Chapter 40

Chapter 40

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Chapter 40

The Dowager Entertains Twice in Grand View Garden

Golden Mandarin Ducks Thrice Calls the Tally for Dominoes

When Baoyu heard this, he hurried in to look and saw Hupo standing by the screen saying, "Hurry up — they're waiting for you to say something." Baoyu went to the main apartment, where the Dowager was discussing with Lady Wang and the other sisters how to return Shi Xiangyun's banquet. Baoyu said, "I have an idea. Since there are no outside guests, the food needn't be fixed in set courses. Let each person choose a few dishes of whatever they normally like. Instead of formal table seating, set a tall small table before each person with one or two dishes they fancy, plus a compartmented food box and a pot for pouring their own wine — wouldn't that be original?" The Dowager found this most agreeable and at once ordered the kitchen told: "Tomorrow prepare whatever we like, and after counting the number of people, pack it in boxes. Let breakfast also be served in the garden." They were still discussing this when the lamps were lit. Nothing further happened that night.

Early the next morning, the weather was splendid. Li Wan rose first and supervised the old servants and maids sweeping fallen leaves, wiping tables and chairs, and preparing tea and wine vessels. Presently Feng'er came in with Granny Liu and Ban'er, saying, "The Eldest Young Lady is certainly busy." Li Wan smiled and said, "I thought you couldn't go yesterday, yet you were desperate to." Granny Liu laughed. "The Old Lady kept me, asking me to have a day of fun too." Feng'er took out several keys large and small. "Our mistress says the tall tables outside may not be enough. Better open the storeroom and bring down those in storage for the day. She would have come herself, but she's talking with Lady Wang. Please open it, madam, and take some people to move them." Li Wan told Suyun to take the keys, and ordered the old women to call several pages from the inner gate. Li Wan stood below Grand View Tower and looked up, telling them to open the Embroidered Pavilion and carry the tables down one by one. Pages, old women, and maids set to work together and brought down more than twenty tables. Li Wan said, "Be careful! Don't rush about as if ghosts were chasing you — mind you don't chip the corners." Then she turned to Granny Liu with a smile. "Granny, go up and have a look too." Granny Liu was only too glad to. She pulled Ban'er and climbed the ladder. Inside, screens, tables, chairs, and lanterns of all sizes were piled in a dazzling mass. She couldn't identify most of them, but they were all brilliantly colorful and wonderfully made. She murmured a few prayers, then came down. Then they locked the door and all descended together. Li Wan said, "The Old Lady may be in high spirits, so let's also bring down the oars, poles, and sun awnings from the boats to be ready." The others assented, opened the store again, and brought everything down. Pages were sent to tell the boatwomen to pole out two boats from the boat house.

In the midst of all this bustle, the Dowager arrived with a whole party of people. Li Wan hurried to greet her, smiling. "The Old Lady is in fine spirits to have come in! I thought you hadn't even done your hair yet, and was just picking chrysanthemums to send you." Even as she spoke, Biyue had already brought over a large lotus-leaf-shaped jade-green plate holding chrysanthemums of various colors, broken from the branches. The Dowager picked a big red one and pinned it in her hair. Then catching sight of Granny Liu, she said with a smile, "Come here and let me put a flower in your hair." Before she had finished speaking, Xifeng pulled Granny Liu forward. "Let me dress you up." And she stuck flowers all over the old woman's head, this way and that. The Dowager and the others laughed until they couldn't stop. Granny Liu said, "I don't know what merit my head has cultivated — today it's become so fine!" The others said, "Why don't you pull them out and throw them in his face? You've been dressed up like an old witch!" Granny Liu laughed. "Though I'm old, I was quite a flirt when I young — I loved flowers and powder. Today I can be a flirt again!"

While they still laughing, they reached Seeping Fragrance Pavilion. The maids brought a large brocade mattress and spread it on the railing bench. The Dowager leaned against a pillar and sat down, telling Granny Liu to sit beside her. She asked, "Isn't this a fine garden?" Granny Liu clasped her hands in thanks. "We country folk come into town at the New Year to buy paintings to paste on our walls. When we have time, we all say, 'How nice it would be to take a stroll in one of those paintings!' We thought those paintings were just make-believe — how could there be a real place like that? But when I came into this garden today, I find it's ten times better than a painting. If only someone could paint a picture of this garden, I'd take it home and show them — even after I die, it would be a blessing." The Dowager, hearing this, pointed to Xichun with a smile. "Look at this little granddaughter of mine — she can paint. Shall I ask her to paint one for you tomorrow?" Granny Liu was overjoyed. She ran over at once and took Xichun's hand. "My dear girl! At your age, with such a fine face and such talent too — you must have been born from heaven!"

After the Dowager had rested a while, she naturally took Granny Liu to see the sights. They first arrived at Bamboo Lodge. Upon entering, they saw green bamboo lining both sides of the path, the ground covered with thick moss, and a narrow pebble-paved path winding through the middle like a sheep's intestine. Granny Liu stepped aside to let the Dowager and the others pass, while she herself trod on the earth. Hupo tugged at her and said, "Granny, come up here and walk. Be careful—the moss is slippery." Granny Liu said, "It's nothing. We're used to walking like this. Just go ahead, young ladies. But pity your embroidered shoes—don't let them get dirty." She kept her eyes on the people above her as she spoke, and before she knew it her foot slipped, and down she went with a thud. Everyone clapped their hands and burst out laughing. The Dowager laughed and scolded, "You little minxes, don't just stand there laughing—help her up!" By the time she finished speaking, Granny Liu had already scrambled to her feet. She herself laughed and said, "No sooner said than done—I talked big and got my just deserts." The Dowager asked her, "Did you twist your waist? Shall I have the maids pound it for you?" Granny Liu said, "I'm not so delicate as all that. If I fell twice every day and had someone pound me each time, where would it end?"

Zijuan had already raised the bamboo curtain, and the Dowager and the others came in and sat down. Lin Daiyu personally brought a covered bowl of tea on a small tea tray and presented it to the Dowager. Lady Wang said, "We're not having tea—there's no need for the young lady to pour." When Daiyu heard this, she ordered a maid to move the chair she always sat in by the window to a lower seat and invited Lady Wang to sit there. Granny Liu, noticing the inkstone and brushes on the desk beneath the window and the bookshelves stacked full of books, said, "This must be some young master's study." The Dowager pointed at Daiyu with a smile and said, "This is my granddaughter's room." Granny Liu studied Daiyu carefully for a moment, then said with a smile, "This doesn't look like a young lady's boudoir at all—it's even finer than the best study."

The Dowager asked, "Why isn't Baoyu here?" The maids answered, "He's on a boat in the pond." The Dowager said, "Who had the boat prepared?" Li Wan quickly replied, "I had the trunks opened just now. I was afraid Her Ladyship might be pleased, so I had it prepared." The Dowager was about to speak when someone came in to report, "The Xue aunt has arrived." The Dowager and the others had just stood up when Aunt Xue walked in. After they had resumed their seats, she said with a smile, "Her Ladyship is in high spirits today—you've come so early." The Dowager said with a smile, "I was just saying that anyone who comes late should be fined, and wouldn't you know it, the Xue aunt is the one who comes late."

After they had chatted and laughed for a while, the Dowager noticed that the color of the silk gauze on the windows had grown old, and she said to Lady Wang: "This gauze looks fine when it's first pasted up, but after a while it loses its fresh green. This courtyard doesn't have any peach or apricot trees, and the bamboo here is already green—pasting green gauze over it makes a poor match. I remember we used to have four or five different colors of gauze for window coverings. Tomorrow have them replace the gauze on these windows."

Xifeng hurriedly said: "Yesterday when I opened the storehouse, I saw several large bolts of silver-red cicada-wing gauze in a big chest—some with sprays of flowers, some with swirling clouds and swastika-fu patterns, some with butterflies flitting among flowers. The colors are vivid, and the gauze is light and soft—I've never seen anything like it. I took out two bolts to make a couple of cotton-gauze quilts. I thought it was bound to be good."

The Dowager laughed and said: "Tut-tut! Everyone says you've seen and experienced everything, and yet you don't even recognize this gauze. You'll still boast tomorrow, will you?"

Aunt Xue and the others all laughed and say: "However much he may have seen and experienced, how would he dare compare with you, Grandmother? Why don't you instruct him, so we can listen too?"

Xifeng also laughed and said: "Good ancestor, teach me then."

The Dowager said laughingly to Aunt Xue and the others: "That gauze is older than all of you. No wonder he mistook it for cicada-wing gauze—it does bear some resemblance. Those who don't know any better all call it cicada-wing gauze. Its proper name is 'Soft Mist Silk.'"

Xifeng said: "That's a lovely name too. But I've seen hundreds of varieties of gauze and silk in my life, and I've never heard of this one."

The Dowager laughed: "How old are you, that you've seen so few out-of-the-way things and yet you go on boasting? Soft Mist Silk comes in only four colors: one is 'sky after rain,' one is autumn-fragrance yellow, one is pine-green, and one is silver-red. If you make curtains or paste it on window screens with it, from a distance it looks like mist or fog—that's why it's called 'Soft Mist Silk.' The silver-red kind is also called 'Haze-Shadow Gauze.' Even the best gauze used at court nowadays doesn't match this for softness, thickness, lightness, and fineness."

Aunt Xue laughed and say: "Don't say Xifeng's never seen it—I've never even heard of it."

Even as Xifeng spoke, she had already ordered someone to fetch a bolt.

The Dowager said: "Isn't this the very thing? Originally it was only used for window screens, but later we used it for quilts and curtains, and found it worked well too. Tomorrow find several bolts and use the silver-red to re-paste his windows."

Xifeng promised to do so. Everyone examined it and praised it endlessly. Granny Liu squinted her eyes, unable to stop looking, and murmured a prayer, saying: "We wouldn't even dare use it for clothes—to paste it on windows, what a waste!"

The Dowager said: "It wouldn't look good for clothes."

Xifeng hastily pulled out the front of the red cotton-gauze padded jacket she was wearing and showed it to the Dowager and Aunt Xue, saying: "Look at my jacket."

The Dowager and Aunt Xue both said: "This is already first-rate—it's the finest court manufacture nowadays, and it can't even compare with that."

Xifeng said: "This flimsy thing, and you call it the best court manufacture—it can't even compare to what's used by the officials."

The Dowager said: "Look again—there may be some blue ones too. If there are, bring them all out. Give two bolts to this relative Liu to hang as a curtain, and use the rest for lining—make some lined vests for the maids. No point letting them sit in storage and get moldy."

Xifeng hurriedly agreed and had the gauze sent away.

The Dowager rose and said with a smile: "This room is cramped. Let's stroll somewhere else."

Granny Liu murmured a prayer and said: "Everyone says great families live in big houses. Yesterday when I saw your main hall, Grandmother, with its huge chests, huge cabinets, huge tables, and huge bed, it was truly imposing. Those cabinets were bigger and higher than a whole room of ours. No wonder there was a ladder in the back courtyard. I thought it couldn't be for drying things on the roof—what would a ladder be for? Then I realized it must be for reaching the top of the tall chests when putting things away or taking them out—without that ladder, how could you get up there? And now I see this small room, which is even more neatly arranged than the large ones. Everything in the room is so pretty, I don't even know what they're called. The more I look, the less I want to leave."

Xifeng said: "There are even finer things—I'll take you to see them all." With that, they left the Bamboo Lodge.

In the distance, a group of people could be seen poling boats in the pond. "Since they've prepared the boats, let's take one," said Lady Jia. So saying, she made her way toward the area around Purple Calm Isle and Smartweed Bank. Before they reached the pool, several matrons approached, each carrying a large box of the same design—carved and gilded in five colors. Xifeng hastily asked Lady Wang where breakfast would be served. Lady Wang replied, "Ask the old lady where she'd like it, and that's the place." Hearing this, Lady Jia turned and said, "Your Third Sister's quarters will do nicely. Take the servants and set things up there. We'll come by boat." Xifeng at once turned back with Tanchun, Li Wan, Yuanyang, and Hupo, along with the servants carrying the food, taking a shortcut to Autumn Studio, where they arranged the tables in the Hall of Morning Emeralds. Yuanyang laughed, "Every day we say that when the gentlemen outside dine and drink, they always have a wit to make sport of. Today we've got a lady wit!" Li Wan, being a kind-hearted soul, didn't understand. But Xifeng knew she meant Granny Liu and also laughed. "Let's have some fun with her today." The two of them hatched their plan together. Li Wan smiled and urged, "You never do a good deed. You're not children anymore, and still so mischievous—be careful the old lady hears of it." Yuanyang laughed, "It has nothing to do with you. Leave it to me." Just then, Lady Jia and the others arrived and sat down wherever they pleased. First, the maids brought two trays of tea, which everyone finished. Xifeng, holding a Western cloth napkin, wrapped around a pair of ebony chopsticks inlaid with silver at three points, reckoned the places and set them out according to each seat. Lady Jia said, "Bring that small nanmu table over here—let Old Cousin Liu sit close to me." The others quickly moved it into place. Xifeng caught Yuanyang's eye, and Yuanyang led Granny Liu outside, quietly giving her a whole set of instructions. "These are our family's customs. If you get it wrong, we'll all laugh at her." After these arrangements were complete, she returned to her seat. Aunt Xue had already eaten and did not partake; she sat to one side drinking tea. Lady Jia sat with Baoyu, Xiangyun, Daiyu, and Baochai at one table. Lady Wang sat with Yingchun and her two sisters at another. Granny Liu sat beside Lady Jia at a third. At every meal in her daily life, Lady Jia had small maids standing by with a spittoon, a fly whisk, and handkerchiefs. Now Yuanyang was no longer in charge of this duty, but today she took up the fly whisk and began to flick it. The maids, knowing she meant to make sport of Granny Liu, stepped aside to let her. Yuanyang stood in attendance and whispered to Granny Liu, "Don't forget." Granny Liu replied, "Don't worry, miss." When Granny Liu took her seat and picked up the chopsticks, they felt heavy and unwieldy in her hand. This was because Xifeng and Yuanyang had agreed to give her a pair of old-fashioned four-sided ivory chopsticks inlaid with gold. Seeing them, Granny Liu said, "These prongs are heavier than the iron shovel back home. I can hardly manage them!" At this, everyone burst out laughing.

A maidservant stood there holding a box, while a maid lifted the lid to reveal two bowls of food inside. Li Wan carried one bowl and placed it on the Lady Jia table. Xifeng, on the other hand, deliberately selected a bowl of pigeon eggs and set it before Granny Liu. When Lady Jia gave the signal, "Please," Granny Liu rose to her feet and proclaimed in a loud voice, "Old Liu, Old Liu, appetite big as an ox, eats an old sow and never looks up!" She puffed out her cheeks and fell silent. At first everyone was stunned, but then, once they understood, from top to bottom they burst into uproarious laughter. Shi Xiangyun couldn't hold back and sprayed a mouthful of rice. Lin Daiyu laughed so hard she doubled over, clutching her stomach and moaning. Baoyu had already rolled himself into Lady Jia's arms. Lady Jia, laughing, embraced Baoyu and called him "my darling." Lady Wang laughed and pointed at Xifeng, unable to utter a word. Aunt Xue couldn't contain herself either and spat her tea all over Tanchun's skirt. Tanchun's rice bowl tipped over onto Yingchun. Xichun left her seat and pulled at her nurse, begging her to rub her belly. Every person on the ground was doubled over with laughter. Some slipped out and squatted somewhere laughing. Others stifled their laughter and came forward to help the young ladies change their clothes. Only Xifeng and Yuanyang held themselves back, still urging Granny Liu on.

Granny Liu picked up her chopsticks, but found them unmanageable and remarked, "The chickens here are handsome, and the eggs they lay are so dainty and small—really quite fetching. I'll just have a go at one." The others had only just stopped laughing when these words set them off again. Lady Jia laughed until tears rolled down her cheeks, with Hupo behind her pounding her back. Lady Jia chuckled, "This must be that mischievous little imp Xifeng's doing. Don't you believe a word she says!" Granny Liu was just praising the dainty eggs and preparing to have a go at one when Xifeng laughed and said, "These cost a tael of silver apiece. You'd better hurry up and taste one—they're no good cold." Granny Liu reached out with her chopsticks to pick one up, but couldn't manage it. She fished around in the bowl for quite a while and finally managed to scoop one up. She was just stretching her neck to eat it when it slipped and rolled onto the floor. She hurriedly put down her chopsticks to pick it up herself, but someone had already snatched it away. Granny Liu sighed, "A tael of silver, and I didn't even hear a sound before it was gone." By now everyone had lost all interest in eating and was simply watching her and laughing.

Lady Jia said again, "And now she's brought out those chopsticks again—not as if she's hosting a grand banquet for guests! It was all Xifeng's doing. Go on, change them at once." The servants below had never prepared those ivory chopsticks—Xifeng and Yuanyang had brought them in the first place. When they heard this, they quickly took them away and replaced them with a pair of ebony ones inlaid with silver. Granny Liu said, "First the gold ones, now the silver ones—they're still not as handy as our own." Xifeng said, "If there were poison in the food, the silver would detect it." Granny Liu replied, "If there were poison in this food, then everything we eat at home would be arsenic. Even if it killed us, we'd eat it all up!" Lady Jia, finding her thoroughly amusing and seeing how heartily she ate, had her own portion brought over and given to her. She also ordered an old nurse to take various dishes and put them on Ban'er's bowl.

When the meal was finished, Lady Jia and the others went to Tanchun's bedroom to chat. Here the remains of the table were cleared away and a new one was set. Granny Liu, watching Li Wan and Xifeng sitting opposite each other eating, sighed, "Never mind everything else—I just love the way you do things here. No wonder they say 'propriety comes from great families.'" Xifeng quickly said with a laugh, "Don't take it to heart. We were just having a little fun." Before she had finished speaking, Yuanyang also came in and laughed, "Don't be angry, Granny. I'm here to apologize to you, old lady." Granny Liu laughed, "What are you saying, miss? We were just giving your old lady a bit of cheer—how could there be any anger! If you had told me beforehand, I'd have understood. It was all just a bit of fun. If I were really upset, I wouldn't have said a word." Yuanyang then scolded someone, "Why haven't you poured tea for Granny?" Granny Liu quickly said, "That young miss already poured tea for me, and I drank it. You should have your meal now, miss." Xifeng pulled Yuanyang, "Sit down and eat with us, so we won't have to make a fuss when you come back." Yuanyang sat down. The women servants added bowls and chopsticks, and the three of them finished eating. Granny Liu laughed, "I see you people here all eat just a tiny bit and then stop. It's a wonder you aren't hungry. No wonder they say even the wind could blow you over."

Yuanyang asked, "There's quite a lot of leftovers today. Where did they go?" The women servants said, "They haven't been distributed yet. We're waiting here to hand them out all at once." Yuanyang said, "They can't eat all this. Pick two bowls and send them to Ping'er in the Second Madam's rooms." Xifeng said, "She already had her meal. No need to give her any." Yuanyang said, "If she's not eating, feed them to your cat." The women servants listened, quickly selected two dishes, and took them away in a box. Yuanyang asked, "Where has Suyun gone?" Li Wan said, "They're all eating here together. Why look for her?" Yuanyang said, "That's all right then." Xifeng said, "Xiren isn't here. You should have someone send two dishes to her as well." Yuanyang, hearing this, ordered someone to send two dishes too. Then Yuanyang asked the women servants, "Have the food boxes for the drinking party later been packed yet?" The women servants said, "It will probably take a little while yet." Yuanyang said, "Hurry them along." The women servants assented and left.

When Xifeng and the others arrived in Tanchun's chambers, they found mother and son chatting and laughing together. Tanchun had always liked spacious quarters, and the three rooms had never been partitioned. In the middle stood a large rosewood-and-marble desk, heaped with various famous calligraphers' model books and several dozen precious inkstones, along with brushes of every color in brush holders and pots, the bristles in the brush pot as dense as a forest. On one side was a huge Ru-ware flower vase of the size of a peck measure, stuffed full of crystal-white chrysanthemums like glass balls. On the west wall hung a large Mi Xiangyang painting, *Misty Rain*, flanked by a couplet in Yan Lugong's own calligraphy, which read:

*A leisurely nature of mist and roam,*

*A wild life among springs and stones.*

A large tripod stood on the desk. On a red sandalwood stand to the left was a large Guan-ware dish from the Daguan kiln, containing several dozen tender-yellow, exquisitely carved Buddha's hands. On a lacquer stand to the right hung a white-jade *biming* chime, with a small mallet beside it. Ban'er, feeling a little more at ease, reached for the mallet to strike it, but the maids quickly stopped him. Then he wanted a Buddha's hand to eat. Tanchun picked one out for him and said, "You may play with it, but you can't eat it." On the east side was a bed—a freestanding canopy bed hung with curtains of embroidered gauze, green as spring onions, patterned with flowers, grass, and insects. Ban'er ran over to look. "This is a katydid," he said, "and this is a locust." Granny Liu slapped him at once and scound: "You low-down little wretch, making a filthy racket. I only brought you in to have a look, and now you're getting above yourself." Ban'er burst out crying, and everyone rushed to soothe him before the matter was settled.

The Lady Dowager, peering through the gauze window into the courtyard behind, remarked, "The paulownias under the back corridor eaves have grown well—only they're a bit thin." While they were talking, a sudden gust of wind passed, and faintly the sound of drums and music was heard. The Lady Dowager asked, "Whose wedding is this? We're quite close to the street here." Lady Wang and the others replied with a laugh, "You couldn't hear anything from the street. It's our dozen or so girls rehearsing their music." The Lady Dowager smiled and said, "Since they're rehearsing, why not have them come in and perform? They can stroll about a bit, and we'll enjoy ourselves even more." Xifeng, on hearing this, quickly sent someone to fetch them, and at the same time ordered tables to be set out and red felt spread upon them. The Lady Dowager said, "Set it up at the Waterside Pavilion in the Lotus Fragrance Nook—the sound will be even better over the water. Later we'll drink at the Embroidery Pavilion below—it's spacious and close enough to hear." Everyone agreed it was a good idea. The Lady Dowager said with a smile to Aunt Xue, "Let's be off. The girls don't much like people sitting about—they're afraid of dirtying their rooms. Let's not be so tactless. We'll go properly and sit in a boats and drink." At that they all rose to leave. Tanchun said with a laugh, "What kind of talk is that? We'd beg the Old Ancestress and the Aunt to come sit with us, and couldn't always manage it." The Lady Dowager laughed: "My third girl here is very good. It's only those two jades who are the pests. When we're tipsy later, we'll go make a row in their rooms."

At that everyone laughed and went out together. Before they had gone far, they reached the Duckweed Bank. The boatwomen, chosen from Suzhou, had already brought up two rosewood barges. The Lady Dowager, Lady Wang, Aunt Xue, Granny Liu, Yuanyang, and Yuchuan helped one another into one of them, and Li Wan followed after. Xifeng also boarded and stood at the prow, wanting to pole the boat herself. The Lady Dowager, from inside the cabin, called, "This is no place for fun. It's not a river, but it's quite deep enough. Come inside this instant, do!" Xifeng laughed, "What's there to fear? Just relax, Old Ancestress." With that she pushed off with a single thrust of the pole. When they reached the middle of the pool, the boat was small and the people many, and Xifeng felt it swaying wildly. She hastily handed the pole to one of the boatwomen and crouched down. Then Yingchun and the other girls, along with Baoyu, boarded the other barge and followed after. The rest of the old nurses and the scattered maids walked along the bank.

Baoyu said, "Those rotten lotus leaves are a nuisance. Why hasn't someone been sent to pull them out?" Baochai replied with a laugh, "These past few days, when has this garden been left idle? We roam about every day—when would there be time to send someone to tidy it up?" Daiyu said, "I dislike Li Yishan's poetry most of all, except for this one line: 'Keep the withered lotus to hear the rain.' And now you won't even leave the withered lotus." Baoyu said, "That really is a fine line. From now on let's not have them pulled out." By this time they had arrived below the Fern Bend at the Rose Brook, which felt chill and penetrating to the bones. The withered grass and remnant caltrops on the two banks only deepened the mood of autumn.

Lady Jia, seeing the bright and spacious waterside pavilion, asked, "Is this your Miss Xue's quarters?" The others replied, "Yes." Lady Jia ordered the boat moored at once, and they ascended the cloud-step stone stairs together. Entering Hengwu Garden, they were greeted by a strange fragrance. Those wondrous plants and immortal vines grew the colder the more verdant they became, all bearing fruit like coral beans, hanging down in charming clusters. When they went inside the house, it was as bare as a snow cave—not a single ornament of any kind. On the table there was only a coarse earthenware vase holding a few chrysanthemums, along with two books, a tea caddy, and teacups. Over the bed hung only a blue gauze bed-curtain, and the bedding was likewise very plain.

Lady Jia sighed, "This child is too honest. If you lack furnishings, why not ask your aunt for some? I don't keep accounts, and I never thought of it—naturally your things were left behind at home." She ordered Yuanyang to fetch some antiques, and scolded Fengjie, "You didn't send any ornaments for your cousin—so stingy!" Lady Wang and the others said with a smile, "She doesn't want them herself. We sent them originally, but she returned them all." Aunt Xue also laughed and says, "He doesn't bother much with such things at home either." Lady Jia shook her head, "That won't do. Even if she's frugal, if a relative comes and sees it, it won't look right. And for a young girl's room to be so austere—it's inauspicious. We old women might as well go live in a stable. You've all heard how the young ladies' embroidered chambers are described in novels and plays—exquisitely refined beyond compare. Even if our girls dare not compare with those young ladies, they shouldn't stray too far from the proper standard. There are ready-made things available—why not display them? If she loves simplicity, having fewer things would be fine. I'm the best at arranging rooms, but now that I'm old, I have no leisure for it. The girls should learn to arrange things well too—the worry is that they'll be vulgar, and spoil fine things by displaying them poorly. I think they're not vulgar. Let me arrange things for you now—I guarantee it will be both tasteful and simple. I have two pieces of my private savings that I've kept hidden to this day—Baoyu has never laid eyes on them. If he had, they'd be gone." She called Yuanyang over and gave her personal instructions: "Put the rockery miniature and the gauze table-screen on this table, along with the ink-dark ice-stone tripod—these three items will be enough. Then bring the ink-brush calligraphy and painting on white satin bed-curtain and replace this one too." Yuanyang assented, laughing, "Those things are stored in I don't know which chest upstairs in the east tower—I'll have to search for them slowly. I'll bring them tomorrow." Lady Jia said, "Tomorrow or the day after is fine, just don't forget." After sitting a while, she finally left and went straight to the Pavilion of Embroidered Splendors. Wen Guan and the others came forward to pay their respects and asked, "What pieces shall we rehearse?" Lady Jia said, "Just pick a few pieces you know well." Wen Guan and the others went down to Lotus-Scented Pavilion—but no more of this.

By now Fengjie had already had the furnishings arranged in order. Above, there were two couches, left and right, both covered with brocade mattresses and lotus-fiber mats. Before each pair of couches were two carved lacquer tables—some in the shape of the flowering crab-apple, some of plum blossoms, some of lotus leaves, some of sunflowers, some square, some round, in various designs. On one was placed a censer and vase with a partitioned food box; the other was left empty, prepared to hold whatever food the guest might fancy. The upper two couches and four tables were for Lady Jia and Aunt Xue; the lower chair with two tables was for Lady Wang. The rest each had one chair and one table. On the east side was Granny Liu, and below her Lady Wang. On the west side was Shi Xiangyun, the second Baochai, the third Daiyu, the fourth Yingchun, then Tanchun, and Xichun in order, with Baoyu last. Li Wan's and Fengjie's tables were set inside the third threshold, outside the second gauze screen. The partitioned food boxes matched the shapes of their tables. Each person had a silver-engraved ewer for pouring their own wine and a multi-colored enamel cup.

When everyone was seated, Lady Jia said with a smile, "Let's have two cups first. We ought to play a drinking game today to make it interesting." Aunt Xue and the others laughed, "The Old Lady naturally has a fine drinking game—how would we know one? You just want to get us drunk. If we drink a couple more cups, we'll be fine." Lady Jia smiled, "Auntie is being modest today—you must be tired of my old age." Aunt Xue laughed, "It's not modesty—I'm afraid I won't be able to play properly and will make a fool of myself." Lady Wang quickly said with a smile, "Even if you can't play, you'll just have another cup of wine and fall asleep drunk—who would laugh at us?" Aunt Xue nodded and smiled, "As you command. But the Old Lady really must drink the obligatory first cup." Lady Jia said, "Naturally." And she drank a cup.

Jiejie hurried forward, laughing, "Since we're playing drinking games, it would be better to have Sister Yuanyang come and lead." Everyone knew that when the Dowager played drinking games, Yuanyang had to supervise, so at this they all said, "Quite right." Jiejie pulled Yuanyang over. Lady Wang laughed, "Since we're all in the game, there's no reason for anyone to stand." She turned her head and ordered a little maid: "Fetch a chair and place it at the table of these two young mistresses." Yuanyang, after half resisting and half yielding, thanked her and sat down. She also drank a cup of wine and laughed, "The drinking command is as strict as a military order. Regardless of rank, I am the master. Anyone who disobeys me will be punished." Lady Wang and the others all laughed, "It must be so. Speak quickly!" Before Yuanyang could open her mouth, Old Mother Liu left her seat, waving her hands, "Don't make fun of people like this. I'm going home." Everyone laughed, "That won't do!" Yuanyang ordered the little maids, "Drag her back to the seat!" The little maids laughed and indeed pulled her back to the table. Old Mother Liu cried, "Spare me!" Yuanyang said, "Anyone who talks too much will be punished with a whole pot." Old Mother Liu then fell silent. Yuanyang said, "Now I will call out domino combinations. Starting from the Old Dowager, each person will speak in turn, ending with Old Mother Liu. For example, I will call out one combination. I will break apart these three dominoes and first call out the first tile, then the second, then the third. After all three are said, put them together to form the name of this combination. Whether it's poetry, verse, idioms, or common sayings, you must match with a rhyming line. Those who make a mistake will drink a cup as penalty." Everyone laughed, "This game is good. Go ahead and say it." Yuanyang said, "I have one combination. On the left is a 'Heaven'." The Dowager said, "There is a blue sky above." Everyone said, "Good!" Yuanyang said, "In the middle is a 'Five and Six'." The Dowager said, "Six bridges, plum blossoms fragrant to the bone." Yuanyang said, "The remaining one is a 'Six and One'." The Dowager said, "A red sun rises above the clouds." Yuanyang said, "Put together, this makes a 'Disheveled Ghost'." The Dowager said, "This ghost clings to Zhong Kui's leg." After she finished, everyone laughed and said, "Splendid!" The Dowager drank a cup. Yuanyang said again, "I have one combination. On the left is a 'Big Long Five'." Aunt Xue said, "Plum blossoms dance one by one before the wind." Yuanyang said, "On the right is still a 'Big Five Long'." Aunt Xue said, "In the tenth month, plum blossoms are fragrant on the mountain ridge." Yuanyang said, "In the middle, 'Two Five' makes a mixed seven." Aunt Xue said, "The Weaving Maid and the Cowherd meet on the Double Seventh." Yuanyang said, "Put together, this makes 'The Second Son Roams the Five Peaks'." Aunt Xue said, "The mortal world cannot match the joy of immortals." After she finished, everyone praised her and drank their wine. Yuanyang said again, "I have one combination. On the left, 'Long One' has two bright points." Xiangyun said, "The sun and moon hang in pairs, illuminating the universe." Yuanyang said, "On the right, 'Long One' has two bright points." Xiangyun said, "Idle flowers fall to the ground, heard by none." Yuanyang said, "In the middle, we still need a 'One Four'." Xiangyun said, "By the sun's edge, apricot blossoms rest upon the clouds." Yuanyang said, "Put together, this makes 'Nine Ripe Cherries'." Xiangyun said, "From the imperial garden, they were carried away by birds." After she finished, she drank a cup. Yuanyang said, "I have one combination. On the left is a 'Long Three'." Baochai said, "A pair of swallows chatter among the rafters." Yuanyang said, "On the right is a 'Three Long'." Baochai said, "Water plants pull the wind, their emerald sashes long." Yuanyang said, "In the middle, 'Three Six' has nine dots." Baochai said, "Three mountains half-submerge beyond the blue sky." Yuanyang said, "Put together, this makes 'An Iron Chain Training a Lone Boat'." Baochai said, "Everywhere are waves, everywhere is sorrow." After she finished, she drank. Yuanyang said again, "On the left is a 'Heaven'." Daiyu said, "A fine hour, a beautiful scene—what to do with this day?" Baochai heard this and turned to look at her. Daiyu, only afraid of being punished, paid no attention. Yuanyang said, "In the middle, the 'Brocade Screen' has lovely colors." Daiyu said, "The gauze window has no Hongniang to bring news." Yuanyang said, "The remaining 'Two Six' makes eight even points." Daiyu said, "I gaze in both directions at the jade throne, ushering in court ceremony." Yuanyang said, "Put together, this makes a 'Basket' perfect for picking flowers." Daiyu said, "The immortal staff, fragrant, selects peony blossoms." After she finished, she drank a mouthful. Yuanyang said, "On the left, 'Four Five' makes a flower nine." Yingchun said, "Peach blossoms, heavy with rain." Everyone said, "She should be punished! The rhyme is wrong, and it doesn't fit." Yingchun laughed and drank a mouthful. Originally, Jiejie and Yuanyang both wanted to hear Old Mother Liu's jokes and had deliberately made everyone say the wrong thing so they would all be punished. When it came to Lady Wang, Yuanyang spoke on her behalf. Next was Old Mother Liu. Old Mother Liu said, "We country folk, when we have free time, often get a few people together to do this, but not as elegantly as you say it. I might as well give it a try." Everyone laughed, "It's easy. Just say it, it doesn't matter." Yuanyang laughed, "On the left, 'Four Four' makes a person." Old Mother Liu listened, thought for a long while, and said, "Is it a country person?" Everyone burst out laughing. The Dowager laughed, "Well said. That's exactly how it should be." Old Mother Liu also laughed, "We country folk are just our natural selves. Don't laugh, everyone." Yuanyang said, "In the middle, 'Three Four'—green matched with red." Old Mother Liu said, "A great fire burned the caterpillar." Everyone laughed, "That's real enough, still your natural self." Yuanyang said, "On the right, 'One Four' is really pretty." Old Mother Liu said, "One radish, one head of garlic." Everyone laughed again. Yuanyang laughed, "Put together, this makes a single sprig—"

"Flowers." Granny Liu held up her hands and said, "When the flowers fall, they grow into big pumpkins." Everyone burst out laughing. Just then there was a commotion outside—but listen to the explanation in the next chapter.