Chin Cheng decides to take Chin Jung along to escort Lady Dowager's coffin and those of Chin Ko-ching, Lin Tai-yu, and Wang Hsi-feng back to the south for burial in the ancestral courtyard, and he asks Chin Lien and Lady Wang to take care of household affairs. He also asks Pao-yu to study hard and to take the triennial examination, along with Lan. Pao-yu is now a changed man. Not only is he averse to rank and official career, but he has lest all interest in women.
In Chapter 117, we see that the monk who returned Pao-yu's jade has returned, asking for silver, and Pao-yu, enlightened by his experiences in the Illusory Land of the Great Void, tells the monk that he will give the jade back to him. Hsi-jen, Tzu-chuan, Pao-chai, and Lady Wang try their utmost to stop Pao-yu from doing this, and he finally agrees. The monk asks Pao-yu to pay him occasional visits, then he disappears suddenly.
Chin Lien announces that he must set off on a journey to see his father, who is seriously ill, leaving Chin Chiang and Chin Yun in charge of household matters because, as he says, "Though they aren't much good, at least they are men," a statement based on the strong feudal prejudice against women.
After Hsi-feng 's death and Tan-chun's marriage far away, there is no female who is trusted to be in charge. During the day, Chiang and Yun play around with the servants, assemble friends for feasts, and even hold gambling and drinking parties. Chin Huan joins their group and goes so far as to frequent brothels and gambling dens. Thus, the once-glorious Jung Mansion is turned upside-down, and the thorough degeneration of the new, young authorities in the Chia family is vividly obvious.
Hsi-chun quarrels again with Madame Yu, which makes Hsi-chun all the more determined to sever all worldly ties; Chin Yu-tsun is taken to court for trial for extorting money from his subordinates and abusing his power by oppressing good citizens; and it is reported that a brigand was executed on the spot when he was caught robbing a house and killing a girl he had kidnapped and who had resisted him. There is some conjecture that this girl may have been Miao-yu.
In Chapter 118, it is agreed that Hsi-chun will devote her life to Buddhism and that Tzu-chuan will join her.
In order to make money and vent his spite on Chiao-chieh, Chin Huan joins forces with Chia Yun and Wang Jen in a plot to sell Chiao-chieh to a prince who lives in a border province and wants to buy a concubine. Fabricating a story that Chiao-chieh will marry the prince, Wang Jen and Chin Yun talk to Lady Wang and Lady Hsing. Lady Wang is skeptical, but Lady Hsing, fooled by Uncle Hsing and Wang Jen, gives her consent—although Ping-erh insists on waiting for Chia Lien's return. Shortly thereafter, two ladies are sent by the prince to take a look at Chiao-chieh and report back to the prince.
A wedding is arranged between Chen Pao-yu and Li Wan's cousin Li Chi. Chin Cheng writes a letter home asking Pao-yu and Chin Lan to study hard, as the examination is near at hand. Pao-yu studies Chuang Tzu and takes the talk about "leaving the world of men" seriously. Pao-chai and Hsi-jen try their best to convince him to study hard so that he can pass the examination in order to pay back his debt of gratitude for his sovereign's favor and his ancestors' virtue, to which Pao-yu says nothing. However, he promises to write compositions to keep in practice, and he animatedly discusses essay writing and the examination with Chin Lan, which makes Pao-chai and Hsi-jen very happy. Pao-yu's behavior here seems very much out of character in that it suggests that he is still somewhat interested in fame and an official career, another example of the author's inconsistency.
In Chapter 119, before going to take the examination, Pao-yu and Chin Lan bid farewell to Lady Wang, Li Wan, and others. Lady Wang's deep concern for Pao-yu moves him so much that he promises to try his best to get a degree to repay his mother and obtain a good chu-jen degree to make her happy. Pao-yu also comforts Li Wan by assuring her that both he and Chia Lan will pass the examination and that one day she will wear clothes befitting a high-ranking lady. Then, after saying a final good-bye to Pao-chai, Hsijen, Hsi-chun, and Tzu-chuan, Pao-yu laughs, saying that he is leaving without further ado.
The results of the examination are good. Pao-yu is seventh of the successful candidates, and Chin Lan's name is the hundred-and-thirtieth on the list—to the delight of all the Chin family members. However, after the examination, Pao-yu vanishes in the crowd. Again, there is an inconsistency in dealing with Pao-yu; he vacillates between being a rebel and a feudal conformist.
Tan-chun goes back to the capital with her husband. Meanwhile, with Lady Wang's and Granny Liu's help, Ping-erh and Chiao-chieh hide in Granny Liu's house in the country in order to avoid Chiao-chieh's being sold to the prince. As it turns out, the prince discovers that Chino-chieh is from an old and noble family, so he announces that anyone who tries to pass off a daughter of the Chin family as a common citizen will be arrested and tried, frightening Wang Jen and Chia Yun and ruining their plans.
According to the Emperor's amnesty, Chin Sheh has been pardoned, and Chin Chen not only has been pardoned but also is due to inherit the Ning Mansion's noble title. Chin Cheng will keep the title of Duke of Jungkuo, and after a period of mourning, will be named vice-minister of the Ministry of Works. All the confiscated property will be returned.
All these decisions make the Chin family just as prosperous as before. The Chin family's happiness cannot be expressed in words, a view that contradicts the Chin family's once-tottering situation of financial and political decline, symbolic of the decline of the entire feudal society—the key theme begun
by Tsao Hsueh-chin. Here, however, the author of the last forty chapters describes the revival of the Chin family and its success in regaining the Emperor's favor, a total distortion of Tsao Hsueh-chin's narrative evolution for the Chin family.
