Red Mansion Huacai

Chapter 414 Baoyu Runs Away
Baochai combed her hair and said, "I wouldn't drink it even if you didn't tell me. You brought me the soup so early in the morning, but who knows what's in it?"

The child born to Tongxi is now being raised in Aunt Xue's room. Baochan, Tonggui, and Ying'er usually take care of him, and Xia Jingui rarely takes care of him. Since Mrs. Xia left, Baochan has gained Aunt Xue's influence, and thus she and Xia Jingui become increasingly at odds.

At this time, he gritted his teeth and said, "What a vicious woman, she was really pretending a few days ago. I think it would be better to return a bowl of soup mixed with arsenic to poison her, or even drug her to death!"

Baochai was tempted, but she said, "I didn't ask you to fetch it. It was you who wanted to poison it. Don't involve me."

Baochan gritted her teeth and said, "Why are you afraid of her, young lady? What else can she rely on now that Madam Xia is gone?"

Baochai frowned and said, "This murder will lead to corruption in the court."

Baochan was extremely angry and just said, "Don't worry, young lady. I'm not afraid. If anything goes wrong, I'll take care of it."

After saying this, Baochan lifted the curtain and left.

Just as Baochan left, Ying'er came in hurriedly, frowning and saying to Baochai, "It seems that the Jia family has been hiding this from you, young lady!"

Baochai was surprised and asked, "What are you talking about?"

Ying'er said angrily, "When I saw Xiren holding a baby earlier, Musk Moon just said it was Xiren's brother's child and she brought it over to raise for a while. Who would have thought that she would let it slip today? It turns out that the child was Xiren and Master Bao's!"

Sister Bao was smart and had already sensed something. After hearing Ying'er's confident words, she was stunned for a while before saying, "There are so many wealthy families like this. What's so strange about that?"

Ying'er couldn't believe it at all. She said with wide eyes, "Young lady, do you know that Xiren was given away by Master Bao before? Who knows whose child this is? And how can such an unclean girl be allowed to be a concubine? I am speaking up for you, young lady. Why are you speaking for Master Bao?"

Baochai sighed and smiled bitterly, "What can I do?"

This year Daiyu was seventeen, Xiangyun was about to turn sixteen, Baoyu was eighteen, and Baochai was already over ten years old. She could be considered a real old maid. How could she be picky about them?
Ying'er wanted to understand this and pursed her lips and said, "If I had known this would happen, Madam should not have stopped the young lady." If the young lady married the Fourth Master Jian, not only would she become the wife of an earl, but Ying'er herself might also become a concubine. Thinking of Qingwen and Hongyu, two maids who were concubines and who usually wore gold and silver and lived a very glorious life, Ying'er could not help but envy them.

Baochai thought of Li Weijian and felt a dull pain in her heart, but she said, "I don't want to think about anything else now. I just want him to make some progress. Even if he doesn't want to be an official, at least he can pass the imperial examination and become a scholar, so that he can take care of the family a little bit."

Ying Erh said, "He is good at pretending to please others. When the young lady was here, he read the Four Books and the Five Classics, but when the young lady left, he started reading some idle books."

Baochai frowned when she heard this, thinking that this would not work and she must think of a way to help Baoyu improve himself.

But Baochan went out of Xue's house and went to a small courtyard in the alley behind. There lived a sorceress named Wei Pozi. Ying'er gave her two silver dollars and said that there were rats in her house, so she bought a packet of poison from Wei Pozi.

When she turned around, she had cooked a bowl of soup and brought it to Xia Jingui.

At this time, Xia Jingui was sitting in the room waiting for good news. Suddenly, Baochan came in, lifting the curtain, and said, "Miss Bao thanks grandma for the soup she brought her. She asked me to give grandma a bowl of soup in return. It was freshly cooked."

Jingui was surprised when she heard this, and then she realized something was wrong. She turned around and forced a smile, saying, "Thank you very much, Miss Bao. You can leave it there. I'll wash up and drink it."

Baochan smiled, nodded and went out.

Jingui looked at his back, gnashing her teeth in hatred and spitting on the ground. She looked at the bowl of soup and pondered for a long time. Suddenly, she came up with an idea. She got up and went to Aunt Xue's room. Just then, she saw Ying'er standing at the door. She smiled and waved, "Ying'er, come here. The young lady cooked a bowl of soup for the mistress and asked her to drink it. Please tell the mistress that the soup is in my room and the young lady asked me to bring it. I need to change my clothes and I don't have time to bring it. You can bring it to the mistress."

Ying'er curled her lips and said, "Granny, just take it yourself. It's only two steps away."

Xia Jingui pretended to hold her stomach and said, "Oh, I can't bear it anymore. I'll give you a string of copper coins. Please help me." Then she took out a string of copper coins from her bosom. Ying'er took the copper coins with a smile and excitedly went to Xia Jingui's room to bring the soup over.

Baochai was doing needlework in her room. She had just combed her temples with a needle when Ying'er came in in a panic, shouting, "Oh no! Something has happened to the Madam!"

Baochai was startled and asked hurriedly, "What's wrong, mother?"

Ying'er was so anxious that she burst into tears. She said, "Just now grandma asked me to bring a bowl of soup to Madam, but Madam rolled on the ground soon after drinking it!"

"what?"

Baochai was shocked when she heard this, and hurried over. Seeing that her mother was in a very bad condition, she quickly ordered Ying'er to call the person in front to invite a doctor. She quickly made a bowl of medicinal tea for Aunt Xue to drink, which induced her to vomit out the soup in her stomach.

Aunt Xue felt better after vomiting, but she still felt uncomfortable in her stomach, so Baochai hurriedly helped her to the bed. Aunt Xue groaned and scolded Ying'er, saying, "This girl is so bad that she poisoned her master."

Baochai shook her head and said, "It wasn't Ying'er who cooked it." Aunt Xue said, "Then who cooked it? Ying'er clearly said you cooked it."

At this moment, Xia Jingui came in in a hurry and said, "What's wrong, Madam? Why did the girl poison her own mother?"

Baochai said angrily, "What nonsense are you talking about? It was obviously you who asked Ying'er to take it away. Why are you blaming me?"

Xia Jingui pretended to be suddenly enlightened and said, "Oh, I remember now. Baochan brought me a bowl of soup just now. I couldn't bear to drink it, so I asked Ying'er to bring it to Madam. I didn't expect that there was poison in it. What a vicious girl, she was so cruel."

Aunt Xue was about to get angry when she heard this, but Baochai pinched her hand in a subtle way. Although Aunt Xue didn't know the reason, she said, "Forget it, I feel very uncomfortable right now, you guys should go out quickly." Xia Jingui glanced at Baochai, snorted coldly, and turned away. Baochai gritted her teeth and came out to greet them. After a long while, she finally welcomed the doctor in. The doctor prescribed medicine, but Aunt Xue vomited after drinking the soup, but her body was still damaged. She fell seriously ill and her life was running out.

Baoyu, Tanchun, Xichun and others all came to visit him, and although several doctors were changed, it was still of no use.

Baochai was in agony and became even more angry with Xia Jingui. That day, she went to Ying'er and Baochan to discuss the matter, saying, "We really can't keep such a vicious woman at home. Baochan, go find a knockout drug; Ying'er, go find a human laborer, knock her out at night and sell her off!"

Baochan and Ying'er agreed to all the requests, and in the afternoon they put a knockout drug in Xia Jingui's food. Xia Jingui fell into a deep sleep after eating, so Baochai ordered Ying'er to change Xia Jingui's clothes and called a trafficker. Baochai wrote a document on the spot and sold Xia Jingui for twenty silver dollars.

Seeing that Xia Jingui was very pretty, the human trafficker could not help but have sex with her that night. He then raped her for more than a month before selling her to Tianjin.

After Xia Jingui left, Baochai and Baochan felt relieved, but Aunt Xue's condition did not improve. Instead, she became more and more seriously ill and died a few days later. Baochai cried bitterly, buried Aunt Xue properly, and tried to support the family business.

In the winter of that year, Li Weijian had another wedding. The Jia and Xue families were both in mourning and could not go over to congratulate him, so they gathered together some gifts and sent them over.

In the twelfth lunar month, Xiangyun came to send gifts back to the two families. Although her words were full of concern, she could not hide her satisfaction. Tanchun and Xichun asked Xiangyun how she was doing in the past month. Xiangyun was stunned at first, then smiled foolishly, blushed, and said, "Everything is fine."

Baochai was filled with bitterness, and she began to control Baoyu even more strictly. Not only Baochai, but also Sheyue, Xiren and Tanchun all gave Baoyu many admonitions, which made Baoyu more and more annoyed.

As the New Year was coming to an end, Baoyu was feeling very depressed and wanted to go out to relax. Baochai allowed him to go out for an hour, but he did not return until dark. Baochai sent the servants of both families out and found Baoyu at nightfall.

When Baoyu saw Baochai, he started to complain bitterly, "I've become sick from holding it in, and you won't even let me take a few days off."

Baochai said nothing, but pulled out a handkerchief from her sleeve, found a pair of scissors and cut it in two, admonishing her: "In ancient times, there was a scholar who gave up studying halfway. His wife was weaving cloth, and when she saw him coming back from playing, she cut the cloth into pieces. Now you are just like that scholar, not studying hard, and like this cloth, you have become useless."

Baoyu said impatiently: "I'm tired of hearing these stories. I've memorized them by heart. I'm just going out to play for a while, and you're forcing me to repeat them."

Seeing that he would not listen, Baochai asked Xiren, Sheyue and Tanchun to talk to him. Baoyu thought to himself, "All these girls have become parasites. They are becoming more and more annoying."

So he said, "Stop talking about studying. It really makes me angry. I hate these Taoist words. They are obviously relying on eight-part essays to cheat for fame and fortune to make a living. They also say that they speak for the saints and sages. It's just rambling and pretending to be mysterious. They still think they are knowledgeable. Those scholars have read books all their lives and have not passed any official examinations. They have made people stupid, and they still say that they are expounding the principles of saints and sages. Confucius said, "Don't be angry if people don't know you." He didn't force everyone to be full of knowledge. Why do we have to pass the imperial examinations and become nerds to be good? Fame and wealth will not allow us to be at peace and quiet, and we will even be busy and miserable. What's the point of this?"

Baochai frowned and said, "As the saying goes, people go to higher places, and water flows to lower places. If you don't have the ambition to make progress, you can only be a mediocre man. But you will never understand the truth in your life, and you will inevitably be confused. How can you not be sad when you get old?"

Baoyu said: "How many of those who become officials have good results? Even if I pass the imperial examination, how much can I contribute? It is better to learn Zhuangzi's "Xiaoyaoyou"."

Baochai was also annoyed and said, "How can you take leaving the world and being apart from the society as a serious matter? Think about it, life is only a few decades long, and although wealth and glory are like passing clouds, you are willing to live in poverty for decades? Is this also what the saints taught?"

Baoyu said as a matter of course: "Fame and fortune are like mud, which makes you and me drown in greed, anger, ignorance and love and unable to break free. People are born with a pure heart, but they are tied to the dirty dust net and cannot break free. It is really sad."

Baochai laughed in anger and said coldly, "From what you said, a pure heart means to be detached from the world and have no responsibilities. Then Yao, Shun, Yu, Tang, Zhou and Confucius always cared about saving the people and the world. Isn't that ridiculous or filthy?"

Baoyu was suddenly speechless and didn't know how to refute.

Baoyu was too lazy to say anything more, so he just said, "Since you are at a loss for words, then you should calm down from now on, work hard, and strive to pass the imperial examination!" He glanced at Xiren who was holding the child outside, and said, "Don't let the people who follow you suffer, so that you will not waste the grace of heaven and ancestors!"

After saying this, Baochai walked away, leaving Baoyu alone in a daze.

Xiren also came to persuade Baoyu with the child in her arms, but Baoyu said, "Who knows what's in my heart? Fame is external to the body, wealth is like floating clouds, and life is easy to make money, so why bother yourself with fame?

All I want in this life is to have a few good friends, drink wine and tea every day. Even if I drink four or five cups and fall asleep, my whole body will be filled with spring and I will be extremely happy. I can hold a cup with my friends, or sit quietly and sing, or look at the moon and appreciate the flowers, recite poems and compose couplets, travel and have fun, and my heart will be refreshed. What great joy is this?

However, I am confined here, imitating the dreams of the worldly people. How sad it is. For fame and fortune, I calculate day and night, and haggle over every penny, but I forget about the beautiful flowers, birds, and mountains and rivers. It is really a waste of life, foolish and pitiful. Instead of this, I might as well become a mountain man or a beggar, which is worse than this life of petty hustle and bustle. "

At this time, the child in her arms started to cry. Xiren undressed herself to feed the child and said angrily, "Since Second Master said so, do you know that you need money to drink wine and tea? If you really throw Second Master out, I'm afraid you can't be a hermit anymore, you can only be a beggar!"

Baoyu thought to himself that the hermit did need money, but being a beggar was too smelly, so he couldn't be one. If that didn't work, he could at least be a free and easy monk.

Baoyu couldn't help but think more and more that it made sense. He thought that if he was confined here every day, why not become a monk and travel around? That night, Baoyu waited for Xiren and Sheyue to fall asleep, then quietly dressed and left Jia's house. He wandered the streets like a lonely ghost until morning, and found a Buddhist temple. Seeing the incense burning inside, Baoyu was immediately unhappy, thinking that he had disturbed the Buddha's tranquility.

Baoyu simply left the capital and headed south. When he arrived at a town, he suddenly saw a group of monks begging for alms along the street. Baoyu immediately became interested and approached them and begged them, "Masters, please take me with you. I have no desire for the secular world and would like to become a monk with you."

When the monks saw that he had a handsome face, they all said, "What's so good about being a monk? It's not as good as being a donor."

However, Baoyu insisted on becoming a monk. Several monks thought Baoyu was strange and grumbled to each other for a while. Then, seeing that Baoyu was dressed in decent clothes, they thought he must be the son of some wealthy family. They did not dare to offend him and had to agree.

Not to mention that Baoyu went south in the wind and snow, but to say that early in the morning when Baoyu was missing, the Jia and Xue families were immediately in an uproar and hurriedly sent their servants out to look for him, but they didn't expect that they still couldn't find any trace of Baoyu until the night.

Tanchun and Baochai hurried to find Xiren to ask questions. Xiren cried and repeated what she had said to Baoyu yesterday. Baochai and Tanchun looked at each other and their faces suddenly changed: "Oh no! Baoyu (Second Brother Bao) might become a monk!"

(End of this chapter)