Chin-kuei and Pao-chan work out a cunning plan to seduce Hsueh Ko. They plan to treat him warmly, do favors for him from time to time, then eventually invite him in and get him drunk. If he refuses to do as they want, they will accuse him of trying to seduce Chin-kuei; thus they will frighten him into giving in to them.
Hsueh Pan's case has not been settled yet because the provincial governor wants to try the case himself. Hsueh Pan's letter to his mother reveals the situation: the governor has not received a bribe; therefore, Hsueh Pan urges his mother to send silver as soon as possible — making clear once again the greed and decadence of the court officials.
Without Pao-yu's knowledge, Lady Wang and Aunt Hsueh choose a day after the old lady's birthday for Pao-yu and Pao-chai's marriage.
Pao-yu goes to see Tai-yu, who sounds him out about his love for her; he professes to be loyal and true to her.
In Chapter 92, invited by Lady Dowager to attend the "cold-dispelling" party, Pao-yu arrives a bit earlier than the young ladies, so he has a chance to talk to Chiao-chieh, who has read The Book of Filial Woman and The Lives of the Chaste Martyrs. Pao-yu instructs Chiao-chieh on the virtuous stories of famous beauties, such as Wang Chiang and Hsi Shih, and such chaste ladies as Tsao-shih. These descriptions are another instance of Kno Ngo's distortion of Pao-yu's original character. Under Tsao Hsueh-chin's pen, Pao-yu was never described as a person who preached feudal order, the virtues of feudal ladies, filial piety to parents and emperors, women's natural inferiority, or women's three obediences to men. The young man who was originally presented to us was against the feudal system, but here he becomes a person who propagandizes for the absolute maintenance of feudal order.
A representative of Ssu-chi's mother comes to see Hsi-feng and asks for a favor because Ssu-chi has committed suicide by smashing her head against a wall because of her mother's opposition to a marriage between Ssu-chi and her cousin, an episode that vividly presents the cruelty of the feudal rulers and the rebellious spirit of the oppressed against their ruthless oppressors. Feng Tzu-ying comes to visit Chin Cheng with four novelties from the south and from overseas, and he urges Chin Cheng (and later Lady Dowager and Hsi-feng ) to buy them; unfortunately, they all say that they cannot afford the price of twenty thousand taels. As Chin Sheh explains, "Our family isn't what it was. We're simply keeping up appearances," a fact that we are already aware of.
