Once upon a time, there was an emperor who was extremely fond of wearing beautiful new clothes. He spent all his money on this, neglecting his army and showing no concern for the lives of his people. All day long, he only thought about how to dress more handsomely.
One day, two swindlers arrived. They claimed to be weavers and said that they could weave the most beautiful cloth in the world. This cloth was not only extremely beautiful in color and pattern, but also had a strange property when sewn into clothes: anyone who was incompetent or hopelessly stupid could not see this clothing.
The emperor thought to himself, "That's really the ideal clothes! If I wear such clothes, I can tell who is incompetent; I can distinguish the wise from the fools." So he paid a large amount of cash to the two swindlers and let them start working immediately.
The swindlers set up two looms and pretended to be working, but there was not even a shadow of anything on their looms. They asked the emperor for the best raw silk and gold, saying it was for the need of weaving, but in fact they pocketed everything.
The emperor was very eager to know how the cloth was being woven. He sent the old minister and the official to check one after another. As soon as the old minister arrived there, he stared wide - eyed because he saw nothing at all. However, he didn't want to be considered incompetent or stupid, so when he returned, he said to the emperor, "How beautiful the cloth is! It's extremely wonderful!" The same was true when the official went there. He also didn't want to be regarded as a fool and also praised the fineness of the cloth.
Finally, the emperor decided to see his new clothes in person. The swindlers pretended that the new clothes were ready. They made a show of dressing the emperor. The emperor turned around and twisted his waist in front of the mirror. In fact, he was wearing nothing at all, but he was afraid of being called stupid, so he also pretended that he saw the beautiful clothes.
When the emperor paraded in the street wearing his "new clothes", the streets were lined with people on both sides. Everyone didn't want to be considered stupid, so they all praised the clothes as extremely beautiful and well - fitting. Until a child cried out, "But he isn't wearing any clothes at all!" At this time, the people began to whisper among themselves. Hearing the child's words, the emperor trembled a little, but he still braved it out and completed the parade ceremony.
This story tells us that we should not be vain in life, nor blindly follow others' opinions, but be honest and dare to tell the truth.