Wang Furen had sent for Baochai to discuss the monk who had arrived outside. The moment Baoyu heard there was a monk at the gate, he hurried off by himself, calling out in agitation, asking where his master was. At first he saw no one, and only after going farther out did he find Li Gui blocking a monk from entering.
Baoyu said at once that Lady Wang had asked him to invite the monk in. Li Gui released him, and the monk came swaying forward. The instant Baoyu got a clear look at him, he felt a shock of recognition: the monk's appearance was exactly like the one he had seen at the threshold of death before. That alone told him much. He stepped up, bowed, and addressed him reverently as his master, apologizing for not coming sooner.
The monk answered bluntly that he wanted no reception, only silver, and that once he got it he would leave.
The words sounded anything but exalted. The man was filthy, ragged, and covered in sores. Yet Baoyu thought of the old saying that true men conceal themselves beneath rough appearances, and decided not to dismiss him too quickly. So he answered politely that there was no need to be impatient, that his mother was making arrangements, and that the monk should sit for a while. Then he cautiously probed him: had he come from the Land of Illusion?
The monk brushed the question aside. What illusion? One comes from where one comes, and goes where one goes. He had only come to return Baoyu's jade. Then he asked a question of his own: where had that jade come from in the first place?
Baoyu could not answer.
The monk laughed. Baoyu did not even know his own origin, yet wanted to question someone else. Baoyu, always quick of understanding and already half-detached from the dust of the world, was struck by that question as if hit between the eyes. He immediately said there was no need for silver after all—he would simply return the jade.
The monk only smiled and said that indeed it was time to return it.
Baoyu said nothing more and ran inside. In his own rooms he found Baochai, Xiren, and the others gone to Lady Wang's quarters. He snatched up the jade from beside his bed and was hurrying back out when he crashed straight into Xiren. Startled, she asked why he had come back when Lady Wang had said he should stay and keep the monk company while she arranged some silver for him.
Baoyu replied that there was no need to fuss over money; he would just give the jade back.
Xiren was horrified and grabbed him at once. That could never be allowed, she said. The jade was his life. If the monk took it away, he would fall ill again.
Baoyu answered that he would not be ill anymore. He had now found his mind—what use was the jade? He shook himself free and tried to go.
Xiren, frantic, chased after him and cried out that she had something to tell him. He turned and said there was nothing left to say. She no longer cared about dignity or restraint. Running after him, she shouted that when the jade had once been lost before, it had nearly cost her life. Now that it had finally been recovered, if he gave it away again, he would not live and she would not live either. If he meant to return it, then he must first let her die.
She caught him again. Baoyu, now impatient, said that whether she died or not, the jade still had to be returned. He shoved her hard and tried to wrench free. But Xiren wound both hands around his sash and would not let go, crying so hard that she sank to the ground while still clinging to him.
The maids inside heard the commotion and rushed over. They saw at once that something was badly wrong. Xiren was weeping and shouting for someone to tell Lady Wang that Second Master Bao was trying to return the jade to the monk. A maid ran to report it.
Baoyu grew even more upset and tried to pry Xiren's fingers loose by force, but she endured the pain and held on. Zijuan, hearing from inside that Baoyu was trying to hand the jade over, was more alarmed than anyone. Whatever cool reserve she usually maintained toward him vanished instantly. She ran out and helped Xiren hold him back. Though Baoyu was a man and struggled with all his strength, the two women clung to him desperately and would not release him.
At last he sighed and said that they would risk their lives over a single piece of jade—but if he himself were to leave, what then?
At those words Xiren and Zijuan both broke into loud sobbing.
While the struggle was still unresolved, Lady Wang and Baochai arrived in haste. Seeing the scene before them, Lady Wang cried out through tears and asked whether Baoyu had gone mad again.
Baoyu knew he could not break away now. So he forced a smile and said it was nothing at all, only that everyone was making an absurd fuss. The monk, he said, was impossible to deal with and demanded ten thousand taels, not one less. In anger he had come in to fetch the jade so he could throw it before the man and say, if the jade is false, what do you want it for? Once the monk saw they did not value it, they could hand him a little money and settle the matter.
Lady Wang said she had thought he truly meant to return it. If that was all, then it was not so terrible. But why had he not explained himself clearly, instead of frightening everyone into tears?
Baochai added that if that was what he meant, then all was well. But if the jade had really been handed over, and the monk proved strange or troublesome, the household might again be thrown into chaos. As for money, even if she had to pawn her own ornaments, there would still be enough.
Lady Wang agreed to proceed that way.
Baoyu did not answer. Baochai came forward, took the jade from his hand, and told him there was no need for him to go out; she and Lady Wang would give the monk money instead.
Baoyu said the jade need not be returned after all, but he still ought to see the monk face to face.
Xiren and the others still would not release him. In the end it was Baochai who decisively ordered them to let go and let him go if he wished. Xiren had no choice but to obey.
Baoyu laughed and said bitterly that they all valued the jade more than the person. Since they had let him go, perhaps he would simply leave with the monk and see how they liked guarding the stone after that.
Xiren at once panicked again and wanted to seize him, but in front of Lady Wang and Baochai she did not dare make too open a scene. Baoyu shook himself loose and went out. She quickly sent a little maid to the gate to tell Mingyan and the others to watch over Second Master carefully, because he was in one of his spells again.
After Lady Wang and Baochai returned indoors and sat down, they questioned Xiren about what had happened. She repeated Baoyu's words in full. Neither Lady Wang nor Baochai was reassured. They sent people out again to wait nearby and listen to whatever the monk said.
Soon a young maid came back with a report: Second Master truly did seem half-crazed. Since they had not let him take the jade, he had nothing else to offer, so now he was begging the monk to take him away instead.
Lady Wang was aghast. What had the monk said to that?
The maid answered that the monk wanted the jade, not the man.
Baochai asked whether he no longer wanted money. The maid had not heard. She only knew that afterward the monk and Baoyu had talked and laughed together for quite a while, but the servants outside could not make much sense of what they were saying.
Lady Wang scolded them as fools. Even if they did not understand, could they not at least repeat what they had heard? She ordered that one of the boys from outside be brought in.
A servant came and stood in the corridor outside the window. Lady Wang asked what had been said. He answered that he had caught phrases about the Great Waste Mountain, Green Ridge Peak, the Land of Illusion, and cutting off worldly ties.
Lady Wang did not understand any of it. Baochai, however, was so frightened by those words that her eyes stared fixedly ahead and she could not say half a sentence.
Just as they were about to send someone out to drag Baoyu back inside, Baoyu himself came in smiling and said it was all settled.
Baochai was still stunned. Lady Wang demanded to know what madness he was talking now.
Baoyu said he was speaking plainly, and yet they still accused him of delirium. The monk, he explained, had known him all along and had only come to see him once more. He had never truly wanted silver; he only wished to make a small bond of charity. Once matters had been explained, he had drifted away of his own accord. Was that not a good ending?
Lady Wang was unconvinced and asked the servant again through the window. The servant hurried out to ask the gatekeeper, then returned to say that the monk had indeed gone. He had said: let the ladies be at ease. He had not wanted silver, only that Second Master Bao should visit him from time to time. All things should follow destiny; every matter has its fixed principle.
Lady Wang said that then he must after all have been a good monk, and asked whether anyone had found out where he lived.
The gatekeeper had asked, but the monk had replied that their young master knew.
Lady Wang turned to Baoyu and asked where, exactly, this monk lived.
Baoyu answered with a smile that the place was far if one said it was far, and near if one said it was near.
Before he could continue, Baochai cut him short and told him to wake up and stop losing himself in delusions. At present, she said, his father and mother cherished only him, and his father had expressly told him to devote himself to achievement and official advancement.
Baoyu answered that what he was speaking of was precisely advancement. Did they not know that when one son enters religion, seven generations of ancestors ascend to heaven?
At that Lady Wang was deeply pained. First one daughter had gone on and on about leaving home for religion, and now another had appeared in the same spirit. What sort of family fortune was this? What was the point of her dragging out such a life?
She burst into tears.
Baochai had to go and comfort her. Baoyu laughed and said he had only made a playful remark, and Lady Wang had taken it in earnest.
She checked her tears and rebuked him: were such words fit to joke about?
At that very moment a maid came in to announce that Jia Lian had returned. His face was changed, and he urgently requested to speak with Lady Wang.
Lady Wang was startled again. She said that there was no need for awkward concealment, since Baochai was family, and had him come in.
Jia Lian entered, paid his respects, and Baochai also greeted him. He reported that he had just received a letter from his father saying that the old man was gravely ill and summoning him at once. If he delayed, he might not see him alive.
When he reached that point, tears began to fall.
Lady Wang asked what illness the letter described.
Jia Lian said it had begun as a chill and fever, but had turned into a wasting disease. The condition was now critical, and a messenger had ridden day and night to deliver the news. If he were delayed even a day or two, it might already be too late. He had therefore come to ask leave to depart immediately.
Then he spoke of the household. There were no truly reliable men left to manage things. Qiang'er and Yun'er were foolish, but at least they were men and could handle matters outside or carry messages if something arose. In his own rooms, there was little to speak of: Qiutong cried and clamored every day and refused to stay there, so he had sent for people from her natal home to take her away, which had spared Ping'er a good deal of vexation. Although Qiaojie had no one properly attending her, at least Ping'er was not hard-hearted. The girl herself understood things, but her temper was even more obstinate than her mother's had been, and he begged Lady Wang to keep an eye on her from time to time.
As he said this, his eyes reddened. He pulled down the little handkerchief hanging from his waist pouch and wiped them.
Lady Wang said that the child's own grandmother was still there, so why entrust the matter to her?
Jia Lian answered softly that if she spoke like that, he deserved to be beaten to death on the spot. He had nothing more to say except to beg Lady Wang to continue showing him kindness to the end. Then he actually knelt.
Lady Wang's own eyes reddened. She told him to rise, saying they were only speaking among family women and there was no need for this. But she raised one concern: the child was growing older. If anything happened to his father and he was delayed away from home, and some suitable match should appear, ought they wait for his return, or would his wife be expected to decide?
Jia Lian replied that since the ladies were at home, they should naturally decide, and there was no need to wait for him.
Lady Wang then told him that if he must go, he should send a written notice to Jia Zheng, explaining that the household lacked men and that his father's condition was uncertain, and urging him to conclude Grandmother Jia's affairs as soon as possible and come home quickly.
Jia Lian agreed and was about to leave, but turned back to add another matter. There were still enough servants for the main residence, but the Garden had almost no one left and stood far too empty. Bao Yong had gone off with his master. The rooms where Aunt Xue had stayed were no longer occupied by Xue Pan, who had already moved elsewhere. A whole stretch of buildings in the Garden now lay vacant, and someone should be ordered to inspect them regularly. As for Longcui Nunnery, the land belonged originally to the family estate. Miaoyu had disappeared, and the nun managing what remained of her place did not dare act on her own authority; she wanted someone from the mansion to oversee it.
Lady Wang replied that they could barely manage their own troubles, much less outside matters. Above all, this must not be allowed to reach Fourth Girl's ears, or it would stir up her talk of leaving home for religion again. How could a properly born daughter of such a house simply become a nun?
Jia Lian said he would never have dared mention it if she had not. But Fourth Sister belonged to the eastern branch, had no parents, her own brother was away, and her sister-in-law had little real standing. He had heard more than once that she threatened either death or something close to it. If her heart was truly set this way, then forcing her might one day drive her to kill herself, and that would be worse than entering religion.
Lady Wang nodded gravely and said this matter burdened even her. She could not decide it alone; it would have to be left to the elder sister-in-law.
After a few more words, Jia Lian went out, summoned the household people, gave detailed instructions, wrote the necessary letters, and made his preparations. Ping'er and the others naturally had many anxious reminders for him.
Qiaojie suffered most bitterly of all. Jia Lian had wanted to entrust her to Wang Ren's protection, but the girl did not want that. When she heard that Jia Yun and Jia Qiang had already been appointed to keep an eye on things outside, she felt even worse, though she could not bring herself to say it aloud. She could only see her father off and then live carefully under Ping'er's care.
Meanwhile Feng'er's death had scattered the attendants: some asked leave, some pleaded illness. Ping'er thought of bringing in a young girl from among the household connections—partly to keep Qiaojie company, partly to help look after her—but after thinking it over she found no one suitable. Xiluan and Fourth Girl had once been favorites of the old matriarch, but Fourth Girl had just married, and Xiluan too was already promised and would soon leave. So the idea had to be dropped.
After seeing Jia Lian off, Jia Yun and Jia Qiang went in to pay their respects to the two ladies, Lady Xing and Lady Wang. They then took up residence in the outer study in turn. By day they mixed idly with the servants; now and then they invited a few friends over for noisy drinking parties and even gambling sessions, all without the inner quarters knowing much about it.
Soon Xing Dajiu and Wang Ren arrived, saw the lively scene there, and under the pretext of helping watch over the estate began joining them regularly in the outer study for gambling and drink.
The few capable senior retainers were gone—some with Jia Zheng, others with Jia Lian. Left behind were only the sons and nephews of the Lai and Lin household lines and others like them. These young men had grown up sheltered by their fathers' and mothers' positions, used to eating and drinking freely, without the faintest idea how to manage a great household or make a living. With all their elders absent, they were like unbridled horses. And now, with two hangers-on from outside egging them on, they were eager for every kind of disorder. In this way the Rong Mansion was thrown into confusion from top to bottom, inside and out.
Jia Qiang still entertained the idea of drawing Baoyu into their company. Jia Yun stopped him. There was no use provoking Second Master Bao, he said; that man had no luck. Once he himself had even found Baoyu an excellent marriage prospect—the father held an official post in tax collection, the family owned several pawnshops, and the girl was beautiful as an immortal. Jia Yun had carefully written him a letter about it, but Baoyu had not had the fortune to accept. Looking around to make sure no one was listening, Jia Yun added that Baoyu's heart had long been entangled with the family's second young mistress, and then there had been Miss Lin, who had fallen into lovesickness and died—everyone knew that much. Such things were fate, perhaps, but for that very reason Baoyu had become annoyed with him and never treated him warmly after. Jia Yun said this with obvious resentment. Jia Qiang listened, nodded, and let the idea drop.
What neither of them understood was that after meeting the monk, Baoyu's mind had indeed turned toward severing worldly ties. He no longer dared behave willfully before Lady Wang, and even with Baochai, Xiren, and the others he was no longer intimate. The maids, not understanding, still tried to amuse and tease him, but he barely noticed them. Household affairs meant nothing to him. When Lady Wang and Baochai urged him to study, he only pretended to do so, while all his real thoughts were fixed on the hidden mechanism by which the monk might one day lead him back to that transcendent realm.
To his eyes, everyone around him now seemed vulgar. He found home itself unbearable. In idle moments he talked instead with Xichun, and the two of them understood one another unusually well. These conversations only strengthened his determination. He no longer spared a thought for Jia Huan or Jia Lan.
Jia Huan, for his part, had his father away from home, Zhao Yiniang dead, and little attention from Lady Wang. He drifted into Jia Qiang's circle. Caiyun tried from time to time to advise him, but only got cursed in return. Yuchuan, seeing that Baoyu's derangement seemed worse than ever, had long since spoken with her mother and wanted to leave. Thus the two brothers, Baoyu and Jia Huan, each in his own fashion became intolerable to others, so that people simply avoided them.
Only Jia Lan remained steady. Under his mother's guidance he applied himself rigorously to study, wrote his compositions, and sent them to the school for old Dai Ru's comments. But Dai Ru had lately been bedridden by age and illness, so Jia Lan had to work mostly on his own. Li Wan, as always quiet and self-contained, went nowhere except to pay respects to Lady Wang and occasionally visit Baochai. The rest of the time she watched over Jia Lan's studies.
So although many people still lived in the Rong Mansion, each was really living a separate life. No one would take responsibility for anyone else. Jia Huan, Jia Qiang, and the rest grew more and more unrestrained. They stole, pawned, and sold whatever they could. Jia Huan sank still lower into prostitutes, gambling, and every kind of vice.
One day, in the outer study, Xing Dajiu and Wang Ren were drinking with the others. Their spirits rose, singing women were called in, and the party turned louder still. Jia Qiang declared that they were all being too vulgar and proposed a drinking game based on lines containing the word "moon." He would begin with a line; after counting around the table, whoever fell on the number must drink and then produce both a matching surface line and a bottom line. Anyone who failed to obey the game-master would be fined three large cups.
Everyone agreed.
Jia Qiang drank the command cup and began with a poetic line about feathered cups and getting drunk beneath the moon. The count landed on Jia Huan. Jia Qiang demanded that the surface line contain the word "cassia." Jia Huan produced a line about cold dew silently wetting cassia blossoms. For the bottom line he was told to use the word "fragrance," and he answered with a line about heavenly perfume drifting beyond the clouds.
Xing Dajiu immediately declared the whole thing tiresome. What did Jia Huan know of poetry? Why pretend to elegance? This was supposed to be fun, not a torment. Better to scrap all that and play finger-guessing instead: loser drinks, loser sings, and the game could be called "Bitter upon Bitter." Anyone who could not sing might tell a joke, provided it was amusing.
The company readily agreed. They began the rowdy hand game. Wang Ren lost first, drank, and sang. Everyone cheered. They played again. One of the hired drinking companions lost and sang some vulgar ditty about a pretty young lady. Then Xing Dajiu lost. Pressed to sing, he admitted he could not, and offered a joke instead.
Jia Qiang warned him that if it failed to make them laugh, he would still be fined.
Xing Dajiu drank and began a long story about a village temple of the Dark Emperor beside a shrine to the Earth God. The Emperor's temple was robbed, and he sent the Earth God to investigate. The Earth God insisted there were no thieves in the district and that the theft must have happened because the temple guards were careless. The Emperor blamed him in return, since as local earth deity he should be responsible for thefts. The Earth God then claimed the real problem was bad geomancy: the Emperor's seat backed onto a pair of red doors, whereas his own shrine had a solid wall behind it and therefore nothing could be stolen there. If the Emperor replaced the doors with a wall, everything would be safe.
The Emperor found this reasoning plausible and ordered the wall built, but the temple was poor and had no incense money, bricks, mortar, or labor. The gods could think of no solution until the turtle general at the Emperor's feet volunteered a plan: remove the red doors and at night let him prop his own shell across the opening as a wall. The other spirits praised this as cheap and sturdy. So he took up the duty. Yet after a few days the temple was robbed again. Summoned back, the Earth God inspected the place and, after touching the supposed wall, exclaimed that he had thought it a real wall—but who knew it was only a fake wall?
The whole company burst into laughter.
Even Jia Qiang could not help laughing. He told the old fool that although he had never insulted him, the joke had somehow insulted him anyway, and that he should be fined a large cup. Xing Dajiu drank it, already well into his cups.
More drinking followed and everyone grew drunk. Xing Dajiu began abusing his own sister; Wang Ren answered by cursing his sister. Both spoke with ugly venom. Jia Huan, warmed by the wine, joined in and reviled Fengjie too—how harsh she had been, how she had trampled on them.
The others took up the theme. A person, they said, ought to behave with some decency. Fengjie had once relied on the old matriarch and lorded it over everyone; now she had come to a sorry end, leaving only one daughter, and perhaps that child too would one day suffer retribution before their eyes.
Jia Yun, remembering Fengjie's poor treatment of him and also recalling that Qiaojie cried whenever she saw him, joined in with loose, reckless talk.
Jia Qiang finally cut them off and told them to drink instead of talking about other people's households.
At that point two of the hired companions asked how old the young girl was and what she looked like.
Jia Qiang answered that she was indeed very pretty and perhaps thirteen or fourteen.
One of the companions sighed theatrically that such a girl was wasted in such a great household. Had she been born into a lesser family, her father and brothers might all have profited by her and risen to office and wealth.
The others asked what he meant.
He answered that a prince from one of the outer domains was said to be selecting a consort. If a girl matched the requirements, her parents and brothers might all follow along and rise with her. Was that not a good thing?
Most of those present paid little attention, but Wang Ren's mind stirred slightly at the suggestion, though he went on drinking without comment.
Just then the sons or nephews of the Lai and Lin household lines came in and greeted the company, saying they seemed to be making merry indeed. Everyone stood and complained that they had come late and made them wait.
The newcomers said that early that morning they had heard a rumor that something had happened again to their own family, and had rushed inside to inquire. It turned out not to concern them directly.
If not, said the others, why not come straight here?
They replied that although it was not the Jia family, it still touched them indirectly. The person involved was Jia Yucun. That day they had seen him in chains, being escorted off to the judicial authorities for interrogation. Since he had long had dealings with their house, they had followed to make inquiries.
Jia Yun praised their caution and told them to sit and drink while they explained.
They did so, saying that Jia Yucun was capable and skilled at pushing himself upward, and had risen to a considerable office, but he had also been greedy. He had been impeached on charges of extorting his subordinates. The current emperor was said to be supremely enlightened and humane, yet at the very word greed he became deeply angered—whether because officials oppressed the people or used power to bully the innocent—so an edict had been issued for arrest and questioning. If the charges proved true, Jia Yucun would not be able to withstand them; if false, the accuser too would not come off lightly. Truly, they said, it was an age when a man needed luck to survive office.
The others joked that one of their own brothers already had such luck, being a county magistrate.
The Lai kinsman answered that though his brother had indeed become a magistrate, judging by his conduct he too might not remain safe forever. Asked whether his hands were long enough to reach out for money, he only nodded and drank.
They were then asked what other news they had heard inside. Nothing else, they said, except that many sea-bandits had been captured and sent to the judicial offices. Under interrogation, it had come out that some of their fellows had hidden inside the city, watching for opportunities to rob households. Fortunately, officials in court were now men both literary and martial, and had already moved forcefully to stamp them out.
Someone asked whether in connection with those arrests there had been any word about the theft their own household had suffered. The answer was no. But they had vaguely heard of a man from inland who had committed crimes in the city, kidnapped a woman, and carried her off toward the sea. When she resisted, the bandit killed her. He was later seized while trying to flee beyond the passes and was executed on the spot where he was captured.
At once someone said: could this not be Miaoyu of Longcui Nunnery, who had been abducted?
Jia Huan declared that it surely was.
Asked how he knew, he answered viciously that Miaoyu had always been intolerable. She was affected and sour all day long, yet lit up with smiles whenever she saw Baoyu. If Jia Huan himself appeared, she would not even look at him directly. If it really was she, he said, that would suit him well enough.
The others observed that many women had been abducted; how could he be certain it was Miaoyu?
Jia Yun added that there was at least some hint: only the other day someone had said that one of the nuns at Miaoyu's convent dreamed Miaoyu had appeared and said she had been killed.
Everyone laughed that dreams proved nothing.
Xing Dajiu cut the matter short and said that dream or no dream, they should hurry and eat, because tonight they would have a truly serious bout of gambling.
All agreed. After the meal they began to gamble in earnest.
It went on until well into the third watch. Then a sudden uproar broke out from the inner quarters. The news came that Fourth Girl had quarreled with Lady Zhen of the eastern branch, cut off all her hair, and gone to kowtow before Lady Xing and Lady Wang, begging them to allow her to become a nun and give her some place to live. If they would not permit it, she swore she would die before their eyes.
The two ladies were at a loss and sent for Jia Qiang and Jia Yun to come inside.
The moment Jia Yun heard it, he understood that the resolution had grown from thoughts Xichun had formed earlier, back when he had been helping watch the estate. He decided there was probably no persuading her now. So he and Jia Qiang consulted together: if the ladies called them in, they were in no position to decide anything, nor was it proper for them to do so. They could only offer some token attempt at persuasion. If she could not be turned, then matters would have to be left as they were. They might afterward write a letter to Uncle Lian and thus clear themselves of responsibility.
Once they had agreed on this approach, they went in to see Ladies Xing and Wang and made a show of trying to persuade Xichun.
But Xichun's resolve was absolute. If she was not to be allowed out of the house, then she asked only for one or two quiet rooms where she could recite sutras and worship Buddha.
Seeing that the two young men would not take responsibility, and fearing that Xichun might truly kill herself, You Shi finally forced herself to act. She said she would bear the blame if blame there must be. If people later claimed that, as a sister-in-law, she had been unable to live with the young girl and had driven her into religion, then so be it. Sending her out into the world was out of the question. Let her remain at home instead. Since both ladies were present, let this be considered her own proposal. Qiang Ge should simply write letters to Master Zhen and to Uncle Lian.
Jia Qiang and the others agreed.
Whether Lady Xing and Lady Wang would accept this arrangement remained unsettled.