Chapter 3: In Which Jia Yucun Finds a New Post, and Lin Daiyu Finds a New Home
Jia Yucun turned at the sound of his name and who should he see there but Zhang Rugui, his old colleague, who had been relieved of his duties on similar charges as he. Zhang, being a native of Yangzhou, had returned here after his dismissal; but now, he said, he had a piece of news that might change everything, for word had come from the Capital of a new edict allowing former magistrates to be reinstated—and it was to this end that Zhang was now bending his energies, seeking by hook or by crook to find his way back into office. After he had shared the news, the two traded hurried pleasantries, then each went his own way. Leng Zixing, having listened to their exchange, was quick to offer his advice: that Jia Yucun should prevail upon the good graces of Lin Ruhai, and through him make good on his connection to the Jias of Glory on Earth.
Returning to his lodgings in Yangzhou yamen, Jia checked the latest bulletin, and seeing that the news Zhang brought was true, he sought an audience the very next day with Lin Ruhai.
"Your timing is fortuitous indeed," said Lin, "for two river boats have just arrived from the Capital to take Daiyu back to live with my mother-in-law. She’s been worried sick thinking of her granddaughter with no one now to care for her. I've been putting off her departure on account of her poor health, but it can be delayed no longer; and I can think of no more fitting recompense, now that we have no more need of your services, than to help you in your quest to return to office. I've drafted a letter to my brothers-in-law, who I trust can be of help with this matter. As to the expense involved, I'll see to it that you need not worry about that."
Between bows and spluttered declarations of gratitude, Jia Yucun ventured: "And may I ask who your esteemed brothers-in-law are, that I may know to whom I am indebted for this great favor?
Lin laughed. "Why, they are your kin, dear fellow, perhaps you know of them: Jia She, Lord of Glory on the Earth, and his brother Jia Zheng, who is Undersecretary to the Minister of Works. An honorable man Jia Zheng is, very much like his grandfather, with nothing of the dissipated aristocrat about him. I wouldn’t recommend you to him if I thought otherwise." Jia recalled Leng Zixing's words yesterday, noting that they had been quite on the mark. "Daiyu will leave on the second of the month," Lin continued. "I think it might serve us both well if you were to go with her, don't you think?"
Jia assented, feeling very satisfied indeed, and accepted the gifts and provisions that Lin offered. As for the girl, she was most unwilling to leave her father, her grandmother's wishes notwithstanding. So Lin reasoned with her:
"It would be a great weight off my mind, child, to know you are safe in your grandmother's care and among your cousins. You will be much happier there, I'm sure, and it will be better for your health. I am not young anymore, and unlikely to marry again, and I fear this will be a lonely place not at all suited to a little girl."
And so Daiyu, in tears, bade farewell to her father and boarded the women's boat, accompanied by her nanny and several matrons from the Jia household. Jia Yucun, along with two page boys, boarded the men's boat, and together they set sail for the Capital.
When they arrived, Jia dressed, disembarked, and with the page boys at his side he presented his calling card at the gates of Glory on Earth.
Jia Zheng, who had already received his brother-in-law's letter, called Yucun in at once. Being a scholar himself, he immediately took a liking to this tall, well-built man with his cultured way of speech, and wanting to do right by his brother-in-law and uphold the good name of his house, as well as aid another scholar in need, he lent his support to Jia Yucun's petition, and with his help Yucun was swiftly reinstated. Two months later Jia Yucun received a posting in the Yingtian District and so departed from Glory on Earth—and, for the time being, from our story.
As for Daiyu, the first thing she saw when she stepped off the boat was a great host of luggage carts and palanquins sent by the Jias to meet them at the dock. She had often been told that her grandmother's family was no ordinary family, and even the old servant ladies who had waited on her during the river journey had dressed and dined with rare extravagance. Now, poised to enter the Jia household, she knew she must weigh every word carefully, mind every step, lest she be laughed at. As she was borne through the streets of the Capital she watched the dazzling life of the city through the gauze curtain of her sedan chair. At length a pair of immense stone lions reared into view. Behind them stood three tall doors with great bronze knockers, a row of uniformed men seated before them. The middle door, the largest, was closed, but the two side doors were open to admit foot traffic. Over the doors hung a plaque proclaiming:
PEACE IN THE REALM
established by the grace of His Imperial Majesty
"This must be my great-great-uncle's house," thought Daiyu. Proceeding down the street, they arrived at a second set of doors, over which hung a similar plaque:
GLORY ON EARTH
established by the grace of His Imperial Majesty
She was carried in through a side door, but after they had travelled a short distance and were about to turn a corner the porters set her down and four handsome pages took their place. The matrons, who had dismounted behind her, now followed on foot. At length they came to a large canopied doorway, where the pages set her chair down again and stood respectfully aside, and now the matrons drew back the curtain and helped her out. One took her by the hand and led her through the doorway, behind which stood a great marble screen in a rosewood frame blocking the view, with covered galleries running off to either side. She was led around the screen, through a little parlor, and out into the central courtyard. Before them rose the great hall, lavish with painted pillars and fanciful scrollwork, and on either side stood lesser halls from whose colonnades hung the cages of parrots and songbirds. On the steps of the great hall sat a small crowd of elaborately dressed maidservants, who on seeing them rose and greeted them with cheerful cries: "Here she is! Her Ladyship was just wondering about you!" They scrambled to pull back the curtains, and one called back, “Miss Lin is here!”
Entering the hall, Daiyu saw a silver-haired lady coming toward her, supported on either side by two other women. As Daiyu was about to kowtow to her grandmother, the old lady swept her up, clutching her tightly to her bosom. “Oh!” she sobbed. “My dear one, my dear, dear little one!"
Daiyu too burst into tears. Even the servants were soon dabbing at their eyes. Amid comforting murmurs and protestations Daiyu completed her kowtow. Then the old lady, indicating the women next to her, said, "These are your aunts, darling, Lady Xing and Lady Wang. And this is your cousin-in-law, Lady Li—she was married to young master Zhu who is no longer with us, bless his soul." Daiyu kowtowed to each of them, then Grandmother Jia called out to the servants, "Bring the girls! Tell them they can have a day off from their lessons. Today’s a special day, their little cousin is here from Yangzhou."
Soon afterward three girls entered the hall, accompanied by their nannies and a flock of maidservants. The first was of medium height, full-figured, with alabaster skin and a serene, gentle manner. The second was tall and willowy, with an oval face whose delicate features had a lively, expressive quality. The third was still a child. All three were dressed alike, clad in matching dresses and identical jewelry. Daiyu went over to greet them, and after they had traded curtsies and words of introduction, the tea was brought in and they sat down with Grandmother Jia. Soon the conversation turned to Daiyu's mother: her illness, the doctors' visits, the funeral rites. "Oh," said Grandmother Jia, emotion filling her voice, "of all my girls, she was closest to my heart. To think that she should leave before me—and that I should not even get to see her!" Taking Daiyu's hand, she wept again, and the room was once more astir with shushes and consolations, until at length her tears subsided.
The others were surprised to find that Daiyu, though so very young, had a poise and eloquence that seemed all the more striking in such a frail slip of a girl. Learning that she was often unwell, they asked, "What do you take for it? Why hasn't it gotten better?"
"For as long as I could open my mouth to eat, I’ve been taking medicine," Daiyu replied. "It's never made any difference though. My parents were always bringing in famous doctors to examine me. Once they even brought in a strange scabby-headed monk who said he wanted to take me to live in a nunnery. My parents wouldn't let him, of course. That was when I was just three, they said. The monk told them, 'There's only one other way I can see to cure her. Only if she never hears the sound of weeping will she be well. So don't let anyone else near her, ever, except her parents.' He said a bunch of crazy things like that, and nobody paid him any mind. Now I take ginseng extract."
"That's good, dear," said Grandmother Jia. "We have doctors here. We'll ask them to add your prescription when they are preparing mine."
Just then there came a peal of laughter from the courtyard behind and a voice crying, "I'm here, I'm here! I haven't forgotten about our guest!"
Daiyu wondered who amid the hushed tones and decorous silences of this place would dare make such an abrupt entrance. But she had little time to puzzle over this, for a moment later a beautiful young woman burst in from the rear chambers, her attendants swarming in after her.
The girl's manner of dress at once set her apart from the others. Like a goddess she looked, aglitter from head to toe: pearls and silver birds in her hair and a great gold pendant shining on her breast; a dark ermine-trimmed mantle over a gown of scarlet brocade embroidered with gilt butterflies and cinched with a jade-bangled belt; and spilling out from under it, skirts of celadon silk adorned with a riot of flowers. Her phoenix eyes flashed under arched brows; her figure was lithe yet buxom. Just beneath the sweetness of her face lay the calm assurance of power, and her ruby lips seemed to laugh without even parting.
Daiyu got to her feet at once. Grandmother Jia chuckled. "Daiyu, you haven't met our infamous guttersnipe here. We Southerners have a word for a girl like his: a hot pepper. You can call her Pepper Feng."
Seeing Daiyu at a loss for a form of address she could actually use, the other girls chimed in quickly: "This is Sister Feng, who's married to your cousin Jia Lian." And Daiyu remembered her mother had often mentioned a cousin of hers, her Aunt Wang's niece who was also her cousin by marriage, who like her had been educated like a boy and went by her school-name, Xifeng—and surmised that this young woman must be her.
Daiyu greeted her, and Wang Xifeng took her hand, looking her up and down appraisingly as she did so. Then she took Daiyu back over to sit next to Grandmother Jia.
"Look at you," Xifeng said to Daiyu. "To think that such a beautiful being existed on earth, and I didn't know. My, but don't you have your grandmother's face! You fit right in with your cousins here. I know your grandma has been thinking of you, she's talked of little else these past few days. I'm so sorry to hear about your mother. How heartbreaking that our Auntie Min has left us!"
"Oh, stop now, you'll have us in tears again," said Grandmother Jia as Xifeng took out her handkerchief and began dabbing at her own eyes. "This girl's had a long journey and she's been through so much, the poor thing, and we only just managed to raise her spirits. Let's talk about something else."
"Too true, too true," said Xifeng, changing her tone at once: "I was just so happy to see our little cousin and I let my feelings get the better of me. I should have had more thought for yours, Grandmother—how awful of me! Anyway, Daiyu," she said brightly, taking Daiyu's hand again, "tell me about yourself. How old are you? And how is your schooling going? And your health? I hope you'll feel at home here. If there's anything you want or need—your favorite foods, favorite playthings, anything—all you have to do is ask me. If there is any trouble with the servants, just come to me." After Daiyu had responded politely to her questions, Xifeng turned to the maids and said, "Have Miss Lin's things all been brought in? How many are with her? See to it that two rooms are prepared for them, they'll be wanting a rest."
As she spoke, tea and refreshments were being laid out, and Xifeng herself poured and served. As she was placing a sweetmeat on Daiyu's plate, her aunt, Lady Wang, asked her: "Have this month's allowances been given out already, then?"
"I'm afraid so, my lady," Xifeng replied. "And I'm sorry to say we just could not find those bolts of satin you wanted. We searched all day for them in the back attics—perhaps you misremembered?"
"Well, never mind what I want," said Lady Wang, "But little Daiyu will be needing a new wardrobe. It would be nice to have some garments made for her, don't you think? We can send someone back to look again this evening."
"Not to worry, I had already thought of that," Xifeng said quickly. "I'll send them over for you to inspect as soon as they're ready."
Lady Wang smiled and nodded, satisfied.
When they were done with tea, Grandmother Jia instructed the matrons to take Daiyu to pay her respects to her uncles. Lady Xing, who was wife to Jia She, rose and said, "Allow me. It is on my way, after all."
"Very well," said Daiyu's grandmother. "That would be simpler for us all, I think."
They bade Grandmother Jia farewell, and Daiyu's aunts led her back through the courtyards and out again through the ornate covered doorway. Outside, the pages stood ready with a blue-canopied carriage. Lady Xing climbed in with Daiyu, the matrons drew the curtains, the pages lifted it into the open and yoked it to a mule; and then they proceeded forth into the street, past the grand entrance and back in through a shiny black door on the eastern side. Dismounting, they passed through a series of ornamental gates and came at last to an inner court where the residences nestled pleasantly among winding galleries and trees and rockeries. It was quite unlike the stately grandeur of the other side, and Daiyu guessed that this place must have once been part of the gardens. In the receiving room of the great hall a crowd of Jia She’s mistresses and their maids awaited them, and at length a servant returned from her uncle's study bearing a message for Daiyu:
"His Lordship is unwell and sends his regrets; it would only be a sadness to meet in these circumstances, he says, and he hopes Miss Lin will understand. He wishes her to know she is no outsider here, and he hopes the love of her grandmother and aunts may allay her homesickness somewhat and that she may enjoy the company of her cousins, and forbear their follies. If any problems arise, she need only say so and we shall see to it that they are sorted out."
Daiyu stood at attention while listening to these words and answered as was seemly. Then she sat again, and Lady Xing insisted she stay for dinner. Daiyu said, "I wish I could, Auntie, but I must pay a visit to my Uncle Zheng and I had better not keep him waiting."
"That's very sensible, dear," said Lady Xing, and she bade two of the matrons go with Daiyu in the carriage, and saw the retinue off through the ornamental gates, calling reminders after them as they went.
Returning into the mansions proper, they dismounted and Daiyu followed the matrons around a corner, through an east-west gallery, and into another courtyard by way of its southern hall and an ornate receiving gate. Before them now loomed a lofty residence alike in size to her grandmother's but even grander to behold, with a sprawling maze of galleries linking it to the lesser halls and winding off every which way. From the foot of the great hall the grand promenade swept all the way to the southern gate. This, Daiyu guessed, must be the very heart of the estate. Above the entrance, as they mounted into the great hall, a massive plaque proclaimed in gold calligraphy:
THE HALL OF FELICITY
and to the side, in smaller letters, was written:
~ by His Majesty's brush ~
~ for his esteemed servant Jia Yuan, first Lord of Glory on Earth ~
Beneath the plaque hung a great ink painting of a coiling dragon, and before it on an amaranthine rosewood table sat an immense bronze tripod flanked by an antique ewer and a bowl of exquisite glassware. Two rows of mahogany chairs were arrayed on either side, and above them on ebony plaques hung a pair of vertical mottos graven in silver:
Here may the pearls always reflect the sun
Here may the sigils be forever radiant
And in small lettering below them was written:
~ with gratitude from His Highness Mu Shi, Prince of Dongan, ever your faithful friend ~
It was not here but in the eastern chambers that Lady Wang, wife to her uncle Zheng, had her apartments, and so the matrons led Daiyu out of the receiving room and into a parlor where a kang sat under the windows, all made up with coverings of scarlet and ochre brocade dotted with imperial dragon medallions. On two red lacquer end-tables stood an incense box and a slender vase with cut flowers. Along the wall opposite stood four straight-backed armchairs draped with flowered antimacassars, each with its own footstool. The matrons gestured to Daiyu to take a seat among the glittering cushions on the kang. Knowing her place, she sat in one of the chairs instead.
The maids brought tea, and as they served her, Daiyu studied their clothing and jewelry and their graceful motions, so different from those of any servants she had seen before. But before she had finished her cup a maid in a trim red satin vest came out and said sweetly, "Her Ladyship requests that you join her inside." The matrons then led her into a comfortably furnished little hall where Lady Wang sat on a kang before a low table laden with books and tea implements. The black satin bolsters on the kang had a worn look, and the seat opposite her, on the eastern side, was empty; Daiyu guessed that this must be her Uncle Zheng's seat. Her aunt gestured for her to sit. She sat in one of the armchairs nearby, but Lady Wang insisted that she join her on the kang, and finally Daiyu climbed up to sit next to her, facing the empty seat.
"Your uncle has gone into seclusion, dear, for there are rites he must prepare for," said Lady Wang. "You'll meet him another time. But while you're here, there is something I must tell you. Your cousins are good young women and know how to behave properly. I am sure that when you are at your books or your needlework or at play they will treat you with utmost kindness. But I have a son, a little demon of seven years who is the bane of all of our lives. He has gone to make an offering at the temple today and you will meet him this evening, most likely. If ever he bothers you, promise me you will pay him no mind. Simply ignore him, as the other girls do, and do not get pulled into his mischief."
Daiyu remembered then her mother's stories about her nephew, who was said to have been born with a piece of jade in his mouth, and who, her mother said, was a strange, fey boy given to erratic fits of temper, who hated school and spent his days rampaging around the women's apartments, coddled and protected by his doting grandmother. "Do you mean Baoyu, Auntie?" she said. "My mother often told me I had a boy cousin one year older than me. She said that though he was a naughty little boy he was always kind to his sisters. Though I suppose I won't see much of him, will I, as I'll be spending most of my time with the girls?”
Lady Wang laughed. "He's not like other boys, dear. He's spent all his life among the women, being spoiled rotten by his grandmother. When his sisters leave him be he's docile enough, but when one of them says an odd word to him and he gets excited all manner of trouble will follow. So I urge you not to mind him. One minute he is all sweetness and the next he is a living terror—his whims are unfathomable. I hope you'll forbear him."
Just then a maidservant appeared and announced, "Dinner is ready at the Lady Dowager's, madame." At this Lady Wang led Daiyu quickly out the back way, down a gallery heading west, and through a small gate that opened onto a broad walkway cutting north-south through the estate. Here stood a little cluster of residences with a north-facing bungalow fronting on a white screen wall and an unassuming hall on the other side. "These are Sister Feng's apartments," said Lady Wang as they passed the entrance, where several young male attendants stood guard with a solemn air. "Now you know where to find her, if you need anything." Passing through another gallery, they emerged into what Daiyu recognised as the rear courtyard of her grandmother's residence, which they entered by its back door to find a crowd of servants waiting. As soon as Lady Wang arrived they arranged table and chairs for dinner.
The wives served: Lady Li tended the rice, Wang Xifeng laid out chopsticks, and Lady Wang ladled soup. Grandmother Jia sat on a divan at the head of the table, around which stood four empty chairs. Over Daiyu's protestations Xifeng ushered her into the chair at her grandmother's left. Her grandmother smiled. "Don't worry, child. Xifeng and your aunts won't be taking their dinner here, after all. And you are our special guest tonight."
Grandmother Jia nodded to Lady Wang, and Daiyu's cousins were then seated: Yingchun first on her grandmother's right, Yuanchun second on her left, Xichun second on her right. Maids stood ready with napkins, spittoons, and dusters while Xifeng and Lady Li served. The adjoining rooms were aswirl with servants, but not a sound was heard. The meal proceeded in silence.
When they were finished, a little tea service was brought in for each of them. Daiyu's father had taught her that taking tea right after a meal was bad for her health, but seeing that things were done differently here, she accepted; and yet a moment later the spittoons were offered, and Daiyu saw that this tea was only for rinsing her mouth and hands. More tea was served, this time for drinking, and presently Grandmother Jia said, "You can leave now, ladies. I'd like to chat with the girls a bit." Lady Wang rose then, and after a few more pleasantries led Lady Li and Wang Xifeng out of the hall.
"Now tell me, Daiyu," said her grandmother when she was more at ease to speak, "How have your lessons been going? What have you been studying?" Daiyu replied that she was learning the Four Books, and asked what her cousins had been reading, and her grandmother said, "Reading? Oh, they're just learning a few simple characters, dear. It wouldn't do for a girl to be a complete illiterate!" But just as she was speaking the thunk-thunk-thunk of footsteps was heard in the yard, and a maidservant entered and announced: "Baoyu is here."
Daiyu had little time to wonder what manner of impish being would soon visit terror upon them—better not to see the silly creature at all, she thought!—for before the maidservant had finished her sentence the boy himself had appeared in the doorway. Here was no imp but a little princeling, crowned with a great gold hairpiece, a pearl on his brow; under a fringed mantle of rich dark satin he wore a glittering scarlet gown with archer's sleeves, a belt with dangling silk knotwork tassels, and little black court boots on his feet. Neat black locks framed a soft, round moon-face with a pert nose, thick jet brows, and a pair of lucid eyes that seemed to kindle with laughter as they looked out at the room. On his breast, under a gold torque, hanging from a multicolored silken cord, was a piece of polished jade.
Daiyu started. As he bent a knee in greeting to his grandmother she thought: How strange! I feel like I've seen this boy somewhere before.
"Now go to your mother, dear," said Grandmother Jia. At that he turned and left.
A little while later he returned. Now his hair was done up in small braids gathered with a red ribbon into a single, thick, gleaming black queue, cinched with four large pearls and tied off with jeweled bangles. He wore a comfortable-looking flowered pink coat, and on his breast still hung the piece of jade along with a longevity locket and various other talismans; on his legs were a pair of green satin trousers tucked into embroidered batik stockings, and on his feet were thick-soled red shoes. His complexion now struck her as pearlier than before, his lips redder, his glances livelier, his laughter quicker. A summer breeze seemed to play across his brow, and a whole life’s worth of emotions changed like the seasons in his eyes.
As for how aptly this description reflects his true character, however, let the reader be the judge. These verses, written years later, offer a rather different view:
Throwing tantrums, seeking grief
And never satisfied
A handsome frame with features fair
And a wilderness inside
For duty he bore no regard
For books, a special dread
Indulging every wanton whim
No matter what others said
He took for granted riches vast
Then could not live without them
As for country, clan, and kin
He cared not one whit about them
He had no peer in uselessness
No equal in delinquency
Tell your sons proud in their silks:
This is no way to be!
"You've changed all your clothes and haven't yet said hello to our guest," Grandmother Jia chided him. "This is your cousin, just arrived from Yangzhou." In truth, Baoyu had already noticed this thin slip of a girl and guessed she was his Auntie Lin's daughter. But now, greeting her and sitting down, he was struck by her appearance, so unlike that of the other girls: a pair of wispy brows that seemed permanently knit with care; eyes that shone with a melancholy light; dimpled cheeks and a wan smile; a faint breath rising and falling within a frail frame wracked by years of illness. Her calm was like a flower reflected in water, her movements like the stirring of willow branches in wind. Yet beneath her appearance of fragile beauty he sensed a keen, discerning intelligence.
"I've seen this girl before!" Baoyu exclaimed.
"What?" laughed Grandmother Jia. "What nonsense is this. How could you have seen her before?"
"I haven't actually seen her," Baoyu insisted. "But she looks familiar. I feel like I know her from somewhere."
"How nice. You'll get along well, then."
Baoyu went over and sat down next to her and studied her for another long moment. "Do you go to school?" he said at length.
"Not really," she replied. "I've been tutored for a year at home, just enough to recognize a few characters."
"What's your name?" he asked. She told him her name, and he added: "And your sobriquet?"
"I haven't got one."
"I'll give you one," Baoyu said. "Brows Inked with Worry."
"Brows Inked with Worry?" cut in Tanchun. "Wherever did that come from?"
“From the Encyclopedia of All Things Old and New. 'One finds in the west a stone called Dai, which may be ground into ink to paint the brows.' Her eyebrows make her look like she's always worried about something. Don't you think it'd be a pretty name for her?"
"The Encyclopedia of All Things Old and New?" scoffed Tanchun. "You're just making that up, Baoyu!"
"But isn't everything not in the Four Books just made up? Am I the only one not allowed to make things up?" Baoyu laughed. Then turning back to Daiyu he said: "Do you have a stone?"
The room was silent; nobody seemed to understand what he meant. Daiyu thought: He's asking if I have a piece of jade like his.
"But your stone is a rare and wondrous thing," she answered. "How could anyone else have one like it?"
Then all at once, with a swift and wild fury that seemed to come from nowhere, Baoyu tore the piece of jade from his neck and hurled it to the floor.
"Rare?" he howled. "Wondrous? Some magic stone! Can't tell the good from the bad! I don't want it, that horrid thing!"
All at once his family members were on their feet scrambling to pick up the jade. His grandmother was clutching him and wailing: "What evil has gotten into your head, child? Oh, if you had broken it! What would become of you? The one thing you shouldn't break, the one thing you shouldn't curse..."
Face crumpled and tear-streaked, Baoyu blubbered: "None of the girls have one, I'm the only one that has one, and now along comes the most beautiful girl of all and she doesn't have one either—how could that stupid thing possibly be good?"
"Now, now," said Grandmother Jia, soothing him, "that's not true at all. You know, child, your cousin Daiyu did have a piece of jade! Only hers was buried with Auntie Lin when she passed away, bless her soul. Her mama couldn't bear to be without her, and your good little cousin gave it up so Auntie Lin could always have something of her daughter with her and could see her whenever she wanted to. Cousin Daiyu was just being modest, darling, that's why she didn't say so. You should take a lesson from her! Here, put it back on—" Grandmother Jia took the necklace from the hand of a servant girl and put it back on him—"carefully, now. And let’s hope that your mother doesn’t learn of this." Baoyu said nothing more, seeming to accept this.
Presently one of the matrons arrived to ask where Daiyu would be sleeping. Grandmother Jia instructed her: "Move Baoyu into the heated lodge in my suite so that Daiyu can have the chamberlet for the time being. After the winter has passed we can make more permanent arrangements."
At this Baoyu piped up, "Grandmother, I can sleep in the bed right outside the chamberlet. That way I won't disturb your rest."
Grandmother Jia thought for a moment, then said, "Very well then. Let one nanny and one girl attend each child and the others remain in waiting in the outer chambers."
When they made their way to their sleeping quarters they found that Wang Xifeng had already sent over a set of lavender curtains along with a stack of fresh bed dressings. Daiyu had brought only two of her people, her wetnurse Nanny Wang and her ten-year-old maidservant Snowgoose, but Grandmother Jia, foreseeing that Daiyu might be put to more trouble than ease by the attentions of a frail older lady and a giggling girl, assigned her own maidservant Parrotlet to wait on her as well. Like the Jia sisters, Daiyu was to be attended not just by her wetnurse but by four governesses, two girls to help with her toilet, and five or six chambermaids to clean and run errands. But now, just Nanny Wang and Parrotlet readied Daiyu for bed behind the curtains of the chamberlet. Baoyu settled down in the big bed outside, together with his wetnurse Nanny Li and his maidservant, a girl called Nectar.
This girl, too, had once waited on Grandmother Jia and had been known then by her birth name, Hua Zhenzhu—Pearl Flowers. But the old matriarch, fearing that Baoyu's previous maidservant was not up to the task of caring for her beloved grandson, replaced her with Zhenzhu, whose character she trusted; Baoyu immediately nicknamed her after a line from a poem, and she was known thereafter as Nectar. Nectar, for her part, could be quite as headstrong as her new charge. When she was in Grandmother Jia's service, Grandmother Jia was her world; now Baoyu was her world, and whenever the eccentric child defied her will she fell into a deep gloom.
That night, once Baoyu and Nanny Wang had fallen asleep, she noticed that Daiyu and Parrotlet were still awake behind the curtains, and after removing her makeup she slipped quietly inside.
"What's keeping you up, Miss Lin?" she asked.
Daiyu moved over to make room for Nectar on the bed. "Would you like to have a seat?" she asked with a smile.
"Miss Lin was just having a bit of a cry," said Parrotlet. "She told me, 'I've not been here but a day and already I've managed to bring on a bout of young master Baoyu's illness. What if he'd broken the jade? It would have been all my fault.' I told her not to trouble her heart about it and we were only just starting to feel a bit better."
"Don't be upset, Miss Lin," Nectar said. "There'll be stranger things yet to come, I promise you. If a little jape like that sets you to weeping, I'm afraid you'll do nothing but weep in this place!"
"Thank you, Sisters, I'll try to remember that," said Daiyu. "Can you tell me something more about that stone? Do you know where it came from? Is it true that it has writing on it?"
"None of us know," replied Nectar. "They say it was in his mouth when he was born. And that even then, it already had a hole in it for a pendant-cord. Here, do you want to see?"
"Oh no, please don't," said Daiyu. "It's late, there's no need. There'll be plenty of time to look at it tomorrow."
They stayed up talking a little while longer, and soon they were asleep.
The next morning, after paying their respects to Grandmother Jia, they went over to Lady Wang's apartments where they found her and Wang Xifeng deep in discussion over a letter just delivered into their hands by two maidservants from her brother’s household. Daiyu could not follow their talk, but Tanchun and the others knew too well what it was about: their cousin Xue Pan, son of Lady Wang's sister, had killed a man and was under investigation by the yamen in Yingtian District. When their uncle Wang learned of this he had sent word to Glory on Earth asking if the Jias might invite Xue Pan to the Capital and offer him a place to stay. But of this, dear reader, no more for the time being—that story will have to wait till the next chapter.
Translation by Austin Woerner
Notes on the artwork:
Image 1: from《刘心武爷爷讲红楼梦》(“Grandpa Liu Xinwu Tells the Story of Dream of the Red Chamber”) by illustrator Zheng Qinyu 郑琹语 (1994- )
Image 2: a portrayal of Lin Daiyu by artist Ye Zhai 也斋 on art platform ZCool 站酷 (2024)
Image 3: an illustration by artist Dai Dunbang 戴郭邦 (1938- ) for the 1978 English translation from Foreign Languages Press, published as Dream of Red Mansions
Image 4: a portrayal of Wang Xifeng by artist Cao Xinhua 曹新华 (1950-)
Image 5: Daiyu entering Glory on Earth, depicted in 《孙温绘全本红楼梦图》（“Complete Scenes from Dream of the Red Chamber”) by Sun Wen 孙温 (1818-1904)
Image 6: a portrait of Jia Baoyu, fan art by Tiktok user 幺蛾子满天飞