Dream of the Red Chamber: Start by gaining Zhao Yun's martial prowess, and be ennobled in a sin

In the inner hall,

Faced with Jia Jing's cold words, Grandmother Jia's heart sank to the bottom. After a moment of silence, she still pleaded in a low voice, unwilling to give up:

"Jing-ge'er, don't be angry! Bao-yu didn't mean any harm. Children play around without knowing the consequences. Yesterday, he only broke his manhood again in a moment of panic!"

"He's already knelt in the ancestral hall all night; he must have deeply realized his mistake. For my sake, please... please forgive him this time!"

Jia Jing looked up at Grandmother Jia, his face darkening, and he sneered:

"Why am I angry?... I just find it ridiculous!"

"Is this about smashing jade? Is this something children do?"

These two short sentences immediately sent a chill through the inner hall, and Grandmother Jia's heart skipped a beat.

But then, Jia Jing's voice grew even colder, and he said in a chilling tone:

"Last time, during the scene of smashing the jade, he pretended to be crazy and made Lin Daiyu so angry that she vomited blood, causing unrest throughout the entire household."

"Such spoiled and dissolute habits are something that the Second Master, as a father, deeply cares about and intends to teach him a lesson."

"But you and Madam Wang stopped him, which made the Second Master so angry that he vomited blood and fainted! The entire household is in chaos because of this!"

"After I returned to my residence, I wanted to punish him severely, but that foolish woman Wang even said she would report me to the imperial court!"

"In the end, if it weren't for the old lady pleading for him, I would have given him a good beating with a few dozen strokes of the military rod to teach him a lesson!"

"At the time, I said that Uncle Lin was a national minister whom His Majesty cared about, and he devoted himself to the court in Jiangnan."

"He only has one orphan girl, Lin Daiyu. There can be no next time, or I will not let him off lightly!"

"How long has it been? Not even a year has passed, and it's already happening again? Don't they ever learn?"

"I heard he smashed the jade again this time? Just because she refused to make him a purse?"

"I heard that the entire household mobilized to find that piece of jade, almost turning Rongqing Hall upside down?"

"I heard that the Second Master wanted to teach him a lesson this time, and it was you and Madam Wang who stopped him again?"

"This is utterly outrageous and absurd! How dare this old lady come to me again to plead for him?"

Grandmother Jia moved her lips, about to say a few words in defense of Jia Baoyu, when Jia Jing's questioning and rebuke came crashing down on her again:

"Is he still a member of the Rongguo Mansion? Is he still a descendant of the Rong and Ning Dukes? Is he still a member of the Jia clan? Is there really no one in the entire mansion and clan who can discipline him now?"

"You've practically elevated this inanimate object to the heavens! What have you done to this perfectly normal man, spoiling him like this?"

"He is prone to throwing tantrums, feigning madness, and is stubborn and foolish. He is incapable of helping the world and bringing peace to the people, respecting his father and grandfather, or studying to understand principles and caring for his younger siblings."

"How can such heartless, frivolous, and irresponsible people be changed?"

Jia Baoyu's badness does not lie in his willful act of smashing the jade or his frivolous and dissolute behavior, but in his complete lack of responsibility.

On the surface, he appears to be a womanizer who loves rouge and girls, but beneath that warm and gentle exterior of a wealthy idler, and looking directly at his actions, lies cowardice, selfishness, and a lack of responsibility.

His "badness" lies not in actively committing evil, but in having the heart to act on emotion but lacking the courage to take responsibility; knowing it is unjust but never fighting back.

The deaths of Jin Chuan, Qing Wen, Dai Yu, and others in the original work were sacrifices to his "gentle evil."

Even the deaths of Yuan Chun and Ying Chun, the tragic fates of Tan Chun, Xi Chun, Xiang Yun, and others, and the ultimate downfall of the Jia family, all bear undeniable responsibility for him, the most favored eldest son of the Rongguo Mansion!

Just like in the original story, when Jin Chuan threw herself into the well, it was because Jia Baoyu teased Jin Chuan while Lady Wang was taking a nap, saying, "I'll go to Lady Wang's room to ask you for her."

Jin Chuan replied, "If a gold hairpin falls into a well, what's yours is yours." This was overheard by Madam Wang, who was pretending to be asleep. She immediately slapped Jin Chuan and chased her out.

And what did Baoyu do? That's right, he "ran away in a flash."

After Jin Chuan'er died, he turned around and, in front of Madam Wang, shifted the blame to "it was all Jin Chuan'er's own carelessness"...

It was as if everything was irrelevant to him.

Even if a person cries after death, their tears are worthless.

He only cries afterward; he never tries to stop it beforehand.

When Qingwen was driven out by Madam Wang, she was on the verge of death.

Baoyu later secretly went to visit her, cried by her bedside, and said many heartfelt words.

And then? That's right, he slunk back home just like that.

They didn't ask Lady Wang for help, nor did they ask Grandmother Jia for help, nor did they seek medical treatment for Qingwen. They didn't take any real action to genuinely help her!

Before she died, Qingwen bit off her two long, scallion-like fingernails, took off her old undershirt, and handed it to him, saying, "Go back now."

At that moment, she probably understood everything: Jia Baoyu would only come to cry for her, but he wouldn't come to save her.

After Qingwen's death, Baoyu wrote "Elegy for the Hibiscus Maiden," a piece of ornate language filled with deep emotion.

But that eulogy was written less for Qingwen and more for himself, to alleviate his own guilt and to prove that "I am not a heartless person".

What Qingwen wanted was not a eulogy, but someone to stand up for her and protect her when Madam Wang kicked her out, even if it was just to say a word of justice for her.

Needless to say, when Daiyu burned her poems to sever her infatuation and took her last breath, Baoyu was on his way to get married.

And this is Jia Baoyu, a man who uses deep affection to mask his cowardice, tears to evade responsibility, and the word "foolishness" to conceal his incompetence.

Perhaps it's somewhat insulting to call him a man!

It can be said that the girls who died before the Jia family was raided were all directly or indirectly related to Jia Baoyu and Lady Wang.

Jia Jing originally intended not to pay any attention to such a person, nor did he have the time to meddle in other people's business!

The previous approach was to let them fend for themselves, whether they studied or not, whether they were ambitious or not, it didn't matter, as long as they didn't cause trouble!

Who would have thought that this attitude would be so lenient now!

Jia Baoyu repeatedly tried to run into his trap, but Grandmother Jia and Lady Wang still spoiled and protected him despite their repeated admonitions, ignoring his prohibitions and insisting on promoting this evil trend of "spoiling and spoiling children" in the Jia family!

Since that's the case, Jia Jing can only teach them some manners and make them remember!

As soon as Jia Jing finished speaking, the hall fell silent!