The Red Mansion in its bustling glory

Cases of the prefectural examinations usually occur within two to three days.

Therefore, this period can be considered Jia Jue's rest time.

The moonlight was beautiful tonight. As Jia Jue lay in bed, he thought about what had happened in the examination hall.

The fantastical and bizarre elements are self-evident, and the fact that I often have incomplete memories makes it hard to tell whether it's a good or bad thing.

Just as Jia Jue was lost in thought, something happened at the Jia family residence.

This afternoon, after lunch at the mansion, Xiren, who was in Baoyu's room, went to Wang Xifeng's courtyard to collect the money he usually used for his studies.

Wang Xifeng always treated Xiren with kind words and gentle manners. Upon seeing her arrive, she quickly greeted her and said, "Why have you come, my dear? Just send two maids away."

Ping'er, who was standing beside her, put her arm around her shoulder and said with a smile, "Xiren has always been so devoted and hardworking, how could Madam not know?"

Then he turned to Xiren and said, "Third Master Bao is truly blessed to have you by his side helping him. Unlike Second Master Jue over there, who doesn't have someone as satisfactory as you."

Xiren laughed and said, "What are you saying, Sister Ping'er? Aren't Qingwen and Sheyue over there excellent?"

Ping'er just smiled and didn't say anything.

Wang Xifeng said, "Ping'er, go and tell them to quickly send over the silver." Then she said to Xiren, "What's wrong with what Ping'er said again? Although Qingwen and Sheyue are good people, they are not like you, who are always thinking of others."

She added, "Now that you've come to me for money, and we've always been on good terms, I have to tell you something from the bottom of my heart—over there, Jue-ge'er is about to pass the imperial examination and become a scholar, while over here, Bao-yu only knows how to play with you. It's not proper for him to behave like this; people will laugh at him. You should also know that Madam intends for you to become her concubine, so you should at least try to persuade her to do so."

Xiren forced a smile and said, "How could I not know this principle? I've advised against it before. You know that person doesn't allow you to speak up!"

Wang Xifeng said, "But things are different now. Think about it, Baoyu and Jue'er are twins. His elder brother has already achieved academic success. Baoyu has always been proud and arrogant. Although he is afraid of his second brother, he may look down on him a little. Does that mean he is inferior to him?"

Xiren lowered her head and thought about it, and it seemed to make sense.

In fact, Xiren had been with Baoyu for so long, but she never truly understood him. In fact, no one in the entire Jia family truly understood him, not even Lin Daiyu, who was equally refined and even more intelligent than Baoyu.

Baoyu is a reincarnation of an immortal. Even though he is now in the mortal world and his mind is clouded, he still carries some of the otherworldly air of an immortal.

From a young age, he and Jia Jue had met all sorts of people, especially the guests and advisors around Jia Zheng, who were all hypocritical and incompetent.

Therefore, these men who were obsessed with fame and fortune were sentenced to death in Baoyu's heart.

Because this is inconsistent with his innate goodness and kindness.

After reading "The Story of the Stone," one might say that Baoyu is weak; one might say that Baoyu is foolish; one might say that Baoyu is incompetent; one might say that Baoyu is lustful, but one cannot say that Baoyu is bad.

The underlying logic supporting all his actions is his pursuit of truth and goodness.

Why did he prefer to be around women in their boudoirs rather than men?

They were more genuine—at least the women around him were.

If he despises smelly men so much, why would he befriend Qin Zhong and Liu Xianglian?

It is also because these two characters are more "real," less hypocritical, and less obsessed with fame and fortune.

Why did he choose the latter between Daiyu and Baochai? Why did he utter that famous statement about a woman's life? — "A girl before marriage is a priceless pearl; after marriage, she somehow develops many bad habits, and although she is still a pearl, she has lost her luster and becomes a dead pearl; when she gets old, she is no longer a pearl, but a fish eye."

That's why.

In Baoyu's view, girls are inherently pure and innocent, incapable of seeking fame or fortune, and incapable of uttering nonsense about officialdom and economics. Therefore, such pure girls are actually his idealized image of the perfect person.

If Jia Jue hadn't been so fixated on the imperial examinations and had been as detached from worldly affairs as Bao Yu, he would naturally have become closer to Jia Jue as well.

Lu Xun's assessment of Jia Baoyu was that he "loved widely but was mentally exhausted." His love for women was not just romantic love, but also compassion for the unfortunate and a universal love for the weak.

In other words, Baoyu was actually a great person—at least in Jia Jue's eyes.

Despite receiving such an education in this era, he was able to develop such groundbreaking ideas. When Jia Jue read "Dream of the Red Chamber," he felt that he was a truly great person.

However, there are currently irreconcilable conflicts between them.

Jia Jue is an ordinary person. Even though he can put on a refined and unconventional appearance, he is fundamentally an ordinary person.

Even if he could be more self-disciplined and have more self-control.

Therefore, when Xiren began to consider the possibility of Wang Xifeng's words, she was destined to fail.

Although Wang Xifeng could not understand Baoyu's disdain and contempt for fame and fortune, she had seen too many spoiled young men who would get angry and act willfully when urged to study and make progress.

The reason she said these words was to provoke Baoyu further, so that Xiren would give him another nudge.

Ideally, it would provoke Baoyu into smashing his jade and throwing a tantrum, so that he would get so angry that he would kick Xiren out.

Having received favors from Jia Jue, she naturally had to handle this matter properly for him.

Xiren thought about it carefully and felt that what the Second Mistress said made sense, so she made up her mind.

After Xiren left, Wang Xifeng called Ping'er over.

"Ping'er, go find two people and spread the word that we agreed on before."

Ping'er sighed inwardly. Although she felt sorry for Xiren, she accepted the order and left.

Sure enough, before long, many opinions began to circulate in the Jia household—these opinions were nothing more than comparisons between Jia Baoyu and Jia Jue.

It was no surprise that Jia Jue was about to pass the exam, but Bao Yu hadn't made a sound yet and was just indulging in his own pleasures.

These words inevitably reached Baoyu's ears.

Baoyu never holds back.

In front of many servants, he repeated those filthy, manly remarks.

Coincidentally, Jia Zheng overheard these words.

His elder brother was studying hard in the examination hall, and yet he dared to spout such arrogant words.

Jia Zheng was always pedantic and could not possibly listen to such words.

They immediately wanted to find someone to restrain him and beat him.

Fortunately, someone had already informed the old lady and her wife, which stopped the situation.

The old woman then cried and cursed, "If anyone says such a thing again, don't blame me for not considering our past friendship!"

The old lady was clever; she wasn't trying to upset Baoyu, but rather to damage the relationship between the two brothers.

Even though everyone knows the truth perfectly well, it still sounds good to say it out loud.

As such, Baoyu was extremely unhappy that day.

That evening, seeing that Xiren seemed hesitant to speak, he asked, "What's wrong?"