Chapter 58

杏子阴假凤泣虚凰

茜纱窗真情揆痴理

The conversation stops after Xichun and Tanchun arrive, and all four soon part. The late Emperor’s dowager consort has died, and an edict prohibits persons of rank holding musical or dramatic entertainment for a year, and weddings for three months. The senior women are required to attend mourning ceremonies for a month. Aunt Xue moves in with Daiyu to keep an eye on the young people and look after Daiyu. Lady Wang and Youshi agree to disband the troupe of actresses; most of them do not want to leave, and all but three elect to stay as nominal maids, attached to household members but largely without duties. They join the many maids and servants with little to do while the senior ladies are away engaged in official mourning duties. The actresses and servants do not get on.

The men, apart from Baoyu who is not yet recovered from illness, are also away on Spring Cleaning Festival duties. He walks in the Garden, and encounters the others; Xiangyun mocks his ill outburst. He leaves, and contemplates the Garden and Xiuyan’s engagement; he regrets missing the apricot blossom for his illness. His reverie is broken when actress Nénuphar 藕官 is loudly castigated for burning paper offerings in the Garden. She is terrified, and Baoyu defends her, firstly saying it was just waste paper, then that he told her to burn spirit paper. The old woman castigating beseeches him apologetically. Nénuphar swears him to secrecy – only two of the other actresses know. He goes to the Naiad’s House before returning, when Baoyu wants to ask fellow confidante Parfumée 芳官 about what he saw, but others are present. Aroma castigates Parfumée for having a loud argument with her foster-mother, which soon involves Baoyu’s other maids. They take Parfumée away and comfort her, although they think her very mischievous, not least for having broken their clock. Food arrives, and is too hot, so they ask her to blow on it for Baoyu; the foster-mother starts another argument, saying she’s too inexperienced. She thinks they’re joking when they ask her to taste the food. When Baoyu has finished, and signals to her, she makes excuses; he asks her about Nénuphar. The offering was for a girl in their troupe who died – they had been principal boy and girl, and were like lovers. She is also like it with the girl’s replacement. Parfumée thinks her soppy, but Baoyu is moved and earnestly to promise to tell Nénuphar not to burn un-Confucian spirit money. A message arrives that Grandmother Jia has returned.