One day after his "brief illness," Pao-yu goes out into the Garden, hoping to see Tai-yu and enjoy the fine weather. There he happens to see Ou-kuan burning paper money and being dragged away by an irate matron. Out of sympathy, Pao-yu makes up a story to protect Ou-kuan and puts the matron in an awkward situation. Then Pao-yu finds out from Fang-kuan why Ou-kuan was burning the paper coins.
The burnt offering was for the late actress Ti-kuan, who used to play the role of young ladies, while Oukuan always played the role of young men. They were often cast as husband and wife, and thus, offstage, they naturally became extremely fond of one another. After Ti-kuan's death, Ou-kuan continued to mourn for her beloved and burned paper money in her memory at all the festivals. Pao-yu, being deeply romantic himself, is keenly moved by Ou-kuan's devotion and sacrifice.
This episode tells us that in feudal societies, the actresses and actors were at the bottom of the social ladder. They were bought by the Chia family for the purpose of entertaining the masters, yet their life was even harder than that of the servants. They were looked down on by both masters and servants alike, and now, when the government asks the high-ranking families to disband their opera troupes as part of the mourning traditions, the actresses find themselves in a dilemma. If they leave the Chia family, they will be bought and sold once more, and yet, if they stay on, they know that they will become lesser maids and be maltreated by the other servants.
Note that in this scene, Fang-kuan has to wash herself with water that her foster mother's daughter has already used. The ugliness of the feudal system is clearly exposed here. However, Pao-yu, as a young master, is proud that he can protect Ou-kuan; his sympathy for her is genuine. His attitude and actions are rebellious, when compared to the usual feudal aristocratic attitudes towards people in the lower social circles.
Awakening one morning, Hsiang-yun discovers that she needs some rose-nitric powder to cure a spring rash. Pao-chai suggests asking Tai-yu for some. Ying-erh and Jui-kuan agree to run the errand, and on their way to Bamboo Lodge, they pick up some twigs and flowers and fashion a basket, which pleases Tai-yu.
On their way back, Ying-erh asks Ou-kuan to go with them and wait for Tai-yu in Pao-chai's apartment. When Ying-erh picks more twigs to plait baskets, Chun-yen joins them, just shortly before Chun-yen's aunt, Fang-kuan's foster mother, criticizes them sharply for picking twigs and flowers.
Then Mother Ho arrives, looking for her daughter Chun-yen. Seeing that the place is getting messy, Mother Ho gives Chun-yen a good beating. Going to Pao-yu for help, Chun-yen meets Hsi-jen, who tries to pacify Mother Ho, but Mother Ho is reluctant to take her advice, so they send for Ping-erli, hoping that she can cope with her. Ping-erh says that Mother Ho should be given forty strokes and driven out. At last, Mother Ho is forced to admit her mistake and pleads to stay, which Pao-yu promises her that she can do. While Lady Dowager, Lady Wang, Chia Chen, and Chia Lien join the funeral cortege of the Imperial Concubine, numerous problems arise, one after another, in every household. In these two chapters, some of those problems are described in great detail.
Jui-kuan asks Chun-yen to give some rose-nitric powder to Fang-kuan as a present. When Pao-yu asks Fang-kuan what she has in her hand, she explains that it is rose-nitric powder for a spring rash. Chia Huan happens to overhear and asks for some, which Fang-kuan promises him. But when Fang-kuan discovers that she doesn't have enough, she wraps up a packet of jasmine powder and gives it to Chia Huan. His ignorance is sneered at by Lady Chao, who seizes this chance to bawl out the young actress. Encouraged by Mother Hsia, Ou-kuan's foster mother, Lady Chao rushes to Happy Red Court (Pao-yu's apartment) to insult Fang-kuan. First, she throws the powder in Fang-kuan's face, and then she curses her, calling her a painted whore. Feeling unjustly wronged, Fang-kuan argues back, saying, "We are all birds of a feather—all slaves here."
When Ou-kuan, Jul-kuan, Tou-kuan, and Kuei-kuan hear that Fang-kuan has been bullied by Lady Chao, they all come to Fang-kuan's defense, butting Lady Chao with their fists and heads. Madame Yu and Li Wan arrive on the scene and come to Lady Chao's rescue, asking her to go away with them.
Tan-chun, Lady Chao's daughter, feels ashamed for her mother's lack of dignity; she thinks that her mother must have been spurred on by someone else to make such a scene. Ai-kuan confides to Tan-chun that it was Mother Hsia who stirred up the trouble.
Mother Hsia's granddaughter Chan-chieh is serving in Tan-chun's apartment, so she asks Mother Hsia to be on her guard when Fang-kuan goes to speak to Mrs. Liu in order to prepare a cool, vinegary vegetable dish for supper.
Remembering that Fang-kuan is serving in Pao-yu's apartment, Mrs. Liu decides to use this opportunity to ask Fang-kuan to ask Pao-yu to secure a job for her daughter Wu-erh. After promising to do her a favor, Fang-kuan goes to ask Pao-yu for some rose-flavored juice for Liu Wu-erh. Receiving the juice, Wu-erh thanks Fang-kuan profusely. Wu-erh's cousin is ill in bed, and since her mother wants to give him some juice, she goes to her elder brother's home to present the juice to her nephew as a tonic.
It happens that Lady Chao's nephew Chien Huai is there to visit the patient (Chien Huai wants to marry Wu-erh, but she refuses to accept his proposal). When Mrs. Liu sees that Chien Huai is there, she rises to take her leave. Then her sister-in-law gives her a packet of Pachyma Cocos powder, which Wuerh wants to share with Fang-kuan. When Wu-erh goes to see Fang-kuan, she is quizzed by Mrs. Lin, who suspects Wu-erh because it is reported that things have disappeared in Lady Wang's rooms, so Wu-erh is to be watched during the night.
Meanwhile, Ping-erh discovers that there is a bottle of rose-flavored juice missing, and Ying-chun's maid Lien-hua tells on Mrs. Liu because Mrs. Liu did not serve her sister, Ssu-chi, the steamed, beaten egg that she had requested. In anger, Hsi-feng orders Wu-erh's mother to be given forty strokes and be driven out.
However, on the suggestion of Ping-erh, an investigation is made. Finally, Tsai-yun, urged by Lady Chao, admits that she committed the crime. Pao-yu, however, conceals the theft and says that he took the Pachyma Cocos powder without anybody's knowing. Hsi-feng , knowing that Pao-yu is lenient to the maids, suggests asking all the maids to kneel in the sun on shards of porcelain with nothing to eat or drink. Then they will confess. Finally, Ping-erh succeeds in persuading Hsi-feng to be more lenient to them whenever she can and mind her own business, if possible.
The differences in the lifestyles of the masters and the servants and the maids of the Chia family are more evidence of the fact that these servants and maids live on the bottom stratum of society, enslaved by their masters. Their destinies are not in their own hands. Therefore, resistance and rebellion seem to be inevitable. However, note that the quarrel between Mrs. Liu and her daughter Wu-erh, and the quarreling between the other slaves are similar to the quarrels between the masters and servants in the Chia family.
All of these conflicts shake the rules of existence of the big aristocratic family. Thus, in order to maintain their control, the aristocrats must always try their best to suppress all rebellion and get rid of unfaithful servants so as to consolidate authority. These incidents over rose-flavored juice and Pachyma Cocos powder are small and insignificant, but they are portents of stormy emotional crises, as well as social crises, in the future.
