In the fourth chapter, since the matters of the Xue family, mother and son, residing in the Rongguo Mansion have been briefly stated, they shall not be written of for now.
Let us now speak of Lin Daiyu, who, ever since her arrival at Rongguo Mansion, has been the object of utmost affection from the Dowager Jia. Her daily routines of sleeping, eating, and living are on par with those of宝玉, and even his cousins Yuanchun, Tanchun, and Xichun are somewhat secondary. The intimacy and friendship between宝玉and Daiyu is also different from that with others. They sit and talk together by day, and rest and sleep together by night, truly in harmony and without discord. However, with the sudden arrival of Xue Baochai, who, though not much older, is of such upright character and beautiful appearance that many deem Daiyu to be outmatched, feelings of melancholy and resentment began to brew in Daiyu's heart. Unaware of this, Baochai's open and accommodating demeanor won the hearts of the servants more than Daiyu's aloof and proud nature. Even the young maids preferred to play with Baochai. Thus,宝玉, still a child, and by nature simple and somewhat eccentric, treated his sisters and brothers with equal affection, without distinction of closeness or distance. Being more familiar with Daiyu, as they both accompanied the Dowager Jia in sitting and lying down, he felt closer to her. This closeness led to occasional minor quarrels and unexpected rifts. One day, for some unknown reason, a disagreement arose between the two, and Daiyu, in tears, retired to her room alone.宝玉, regretting his hasty words, went to reconcile with her, and gradually Daiyu's mood began to improve.
At this time, in the eastern Ning Mansion, the plum blossoms in the garden were in full bloom. Jia Zhen's wife, You氏, prepared wine and invited the Dowager Jia, Lady Xing, Lady Wang, and others to appreciate the flowers. On this day, she first brought Jia Rong's wife to personally extend the invitation. After breakfast, the Dowager Jia and the others came over and wandered in the Hui Fang Garden, having tea before wine, which was nothing more than a small gathering of the female relatives of the Ning and Rong households, with no new or interesting events worth recording.
After a while,宝玉felt tired and wanted to take a nap. The Dowager Jia ordered someone to coax him to rest for a while before coming back. Jia Rong's wife, Qin Shi, hurriedly smiled and replied, "We have prepared a room for Uncle Bao here. Great-grandmother, please rest assured and leave it to me." She also said to宝玉's wet nurse and maids, "Nannies, sisters, please follow me with Uncle Bao." The Dowager Jia knew that Qin Shi was an extremely reliable person, slender and delicate in appearance, and gentle and peaceful in her actions. She was the most favored among the great-grandsons' wives and felt secure seeing her arrange for宝玉's rest.
At that moment, Qin Shi led a group of people to the inner room of the main chamber.宝玉looked up and saw a painting on the wall. The figures in the painting were fine, but the story depicted was "The Burning of Li," and without considering who the painter was, he felt somewhat displeased. There was also a pair of couplets written:
All worldly matters, when understood, become knowledge; all human emotions, when mastered, become literature. After reading these two lines, even though the room was exquisitely decorated and the furnishings were gorgeous, he absolutely refused to stay there and hurriedly said, "Get out quickly! Get out quickly!" Qin Shi listened and smiled, "If this place is not good, where else can we go? Otherwise, let's go to my room."宝玉nodded and smiled. One of the nannies said, "There is no reason for an uncle to sleep in his nephew's room." Qin Shi laughed, "Oh dear, don't worry about him being annoyed. How old can he be to care about these things! Last month, didn't you see my brother come? Although he is of the same age as Uncle Bao, if they stand together, I'm afraid the other one might be taller."宝玉said, "Why haven't I seen him? Bring him here for me to see." Everyone laughed, "It's twenty or thirty miles away, how can we bring him here? There will be a chance to see him." As they spoke, they all came to Qin Shi's room. As soon as they reached the door, a faint sweet fragrance came.宝玉felt his eyes become sweet and his bones soft, and he kept saying "So fragrant!" Looking at the wall in the room, there was a "Spring Sleep of Begonia" painted by Tang Bohu, with a pair of couplets written by Song scholar Qin Taixu on both sides, which read:
The tender cold locks dreams because of the cold spring, and the fragrant air assails people because of the fragrance of wine. Looking at the case on the wall, there was a mirror set up in Wu Zetian's mirror room that day, with a golden plate where Fei Yan had stood and danced, and the plate was filled with a papaya that An Lushan had thrown and hurt Taizhen's breast. Above, there was a couch where Princess Sho