Chapter 101

大观园月夜警幽魂

散花寺神签惊异兆

Xifeng goes to visit Tanchun at night; the moon is extremely bright. Having dismissed her maids on various errands, she finds herself confronted by a large doglike creature, and hurries away in panic. She sees the elegant figure of a lady, who calls her Auntie, and chides her for not heeding her advice. Realising it is the ghost of Qin Keqing, Xifeng spits and flees in fright; when her maids find her, she lies about seeing Tanchun and they head back straight to bed. The next morning, Lian is troubled by several reports in the newspaper before leaving for a meeting. Patience gives Xifeng a massage, while she hears a nanny mistreating Qiaojie; she worries about their future, which upsets Patience. Unexpectedly, Lian arrives back early, having been unable to complete his meeting; he is furious to see the household still so disorderly, and shouts at Xifeng, who contains herself. He reveals that he has been trying to pull strings on behalf of Xifeng’s brother, Wang Ren 王仁, who, as Ziteng’s successor, owes money to the Censorate, but Ren, meanwhile, is holding a party for Zisheng and behaving abominably. Xifeng is upset; Lian criticises her for being too slack and putting up with lax behaviour from her brother and the servants. Patience gives Lian a piece of her mind; he takes his leave. Thoroughly upset, Xifeng decides not to go to Zisheng’s party, but does visit Baochai to explain. She tries to dismiss the doltish Baoyu, but he makes a fuss over his peacock cape; Aroma explains that he had previously said he never wanted to wear it again. Xifeng is reminded of Fivey; now that Baoyu is married, there can be no objection to her working for him, so she will arrange it, delighting Baoyu. Xifeng observes how close Baoyu and Baochai are, and while having an audience with Grandmother Jia, teases Baochai after Baoyu sends back a silly message with urgency.

A nun from Scattered Flowers, Perfecta 大了, calls on Xifeng and Lady Jia to invite her to a particular service regarding spirits. Xifeng’s encounter with Keqing’s ghost has cast her scepticism aside and is intrigued. Perfecta tells Xifeng about the Bodhisattva of the Scattered Flowers, and Xifeng decides to visit the next day to test her story. She does so; after praying like a devout believer, she tests the fortune sticks. She is astounded to read her own name (a reference to a historical Wang Xifeng) on the stick; Perfecta expounds on the fortune telling, interpreting it as a good omen: that Zheng will send for his family. Xifeng is only half convinced; she eats and leaves. At home, any doubts she harbours as to the omen are dispelled by the others’ unanimous acceptance of it.

Baochai, meanwhile, tells Baoyu about the divination; she is sceptical about the interpretation of the verse. Before she can elaborate, she is summoned to Lady Wang’s.