After the Battle of Red Cliffs, Sun Quan, following Zhou Yu's plan, used a marriage proposal as a pretext to lure Liu Bei to Eastern Wu to wed Sun Quan's sister, intending to kill him and reclaim Jingzhou, which Liu Bei had borrowed temporarily.
Zhuge Liang saw through Zhou Yu's scheme and made careful arrangements, ensuring that Liu Bei would both marry the bride and keep Jingzhou secure. Only then did Liu Bei feel at ease to proceed.
Before leaving, Zhuge Liang gave three silk pouches to the accompanying general Zhao Yun, saying:
"In the brocade pouch are three brilliant strategies. Follow my instructions step by step, and you will surely keep our lord safe."
Zhao Yun, leading five hundred soldiers, accompanied Liu Bei to Eastern Wu.
Upon arrival, Zhao Yun opened the first secret plan and ordered 500 soldiers to parade through the streets buying wedding gifts, making the entire city buzz with news that Liu Bei had come to marry the governor's sister. Zhao Yun then accompanied Liu Bei with lavish presents to visit Qiao Guolao, Sun Quan's uncle, explaining the marriage proposal. Delighted, Qiao Guolao rushed to the palace to congratulate his sister, Lady Wu, the dowager queen. With the dowager queen's blessing, what was meant to be a trick became reality, and Liu Bei married the princess.
When Sun Quan saw his first plan fail, he adopted another of Zhou Yu’s schemes, letting Liu Bei indulge in a life of luxury and pleasure, forgetting to return and growing distant from Zhuge Liang and his allies, so they could later seize Jingzhou. After some time, Zhao Yun opened the second stratagem pouch and, following the plan, falsely reported to Liu Bei that Cao Cao was leading an army to attack Jingzhou. Liu Bei discussed it with Lady Sun, and they decided to secretly return to Jingzhou together as a couple.
However, their escape was discovered by Zhou Yu, who sent generals to intercept them. Zhao Yun opened the third secret plan and, following its instructions, asked Liu Bei to have Lady Sun confront and rebuke the pursuing officers. By the time Sun Quan's envoy arrived with the imperial sword to stop them, Liu Bei and Lady Sun had already boarded the small boat that Zhuge Liang had arranged for their rescue, sailing straight for Jingzhou.
Thanks to Zhuge Liang's brilliant strategies, Sun Quan and Zhou Yu lost both their bride and their soldiers.
Later, the idiom "Wisdom in a Brocade Bag" came to describe a strategy kept secret until a critical moment to solve an urgent problem, or simply any clever plan.
Source: *Romance of the Three Kingdoms*
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "锦囊妙计" came to describe a strategy kept secret until a critical moment to solve an urgent problem, or simply any clever plan.