Chapter 484 Fortunately, it was just a dream
At that time, in the Xiaoxiang Pavilion, Daiyu burned her manuscripts and severed her love, her life ending in death... The towering flames and heart-wrenching cries in his dream caused him excruciating pain, even in his dreams.
In the dream, Shi Xiangyun was still talkative and cheerful, calling her "brother" affectionately, but her fate was full of twists and turns.
Her fiancé, Wei Ruolan, did not achieve military exploits on the frontier as he did in reality, and did not return safely to marry her. Instead, he fell ill and died early. Xiangyun became a widow before even getting married, and her smile disappeared. She faced many hardships and eventually drifted away to who knows where.
In his dream, the one who terrified him most was Sister Feng. In his dream, Wang Xifeng was still the same Second Madam Lian—beautiful, shrewish, and ruthless.
She managed the Ningguo Mansion and abused her power at the Iron Threshold Temple. In order to amass wealth, she engaged in usury, monopolized lawsuits, and treated human life as worthless.
She schemed against Second Sister You, driving her to commit suicide by swallowing gold... The shrewdness and ruthlessness in her eyes sent chills down his spine in his dream.
Ultimately, the Jia family's schemes failed and their property was confiscated. She, "too clever by half, ruined her own life," fell seriously ill in bed and was wrapped in a tattered mat and dragged out in the midst of a heavy snowfall...
The scene was so horrific that it made him tremble as if he had fallen into an ice cave.
In my dream, my third sister, Tan Chun, married far away to a foreign land, like a kite with a broken string, never to be heard from again; my fourth sister, Xi Chun, saw through the vanity of the world, became a nun, begging for food, spending the rest of her life with a Buddhist lamp; my second sister, Ying Chun, was mistakenly married to a heartless man and was tortured to death…
The young ladies of the Grand View Garden scattered, died, and withered away, just as a fleeting, prosperous feast came to an end.
And what about himself?
In his dream, after experiencing Daiyu's death, a family upheaval, and the nominal end of his marriage with Baochai, he saw through the illusions of the world and ultimately chose to sever his ties with it, leaving behind a vast expanse of white as he followed a monk and a Taoist priest to become a monk.
The so-called "vast white earth, truly clean" is not transcendence, but rather a profound sense of desolation and nihilism.
"No...that's not how it is...no!"
In his dream, Baoyu wanted to shout, but no sound came out; he wanted to grasp something, but he couldn't grasp anything.
That feeling of powerlessness and suffocation was like ice water soaking through my whole body, the chill penetrating to my very bones.
"Grandfather? Grandfather, what's wrong?"
A childish voice, filled with anxiety, gently pushed him.
Baoyu suddenly woke up with a start, his forehead covered in cold sweat and his back feeling icy cold.
The afterglow of the setting sun was still warm, the crabapple blossoms in the garden were in full bloom, and the worried little face of the grandson came into view.
But his heart was still shrouded in the shock and chill brought on by the great dream, and it took him a long time to recover.
"No...it's nothing."
His voice was hoarse as he pulled his grandson into his arms. The real, warm touch helped him slowly break free from the nightmare.
"Is the master having a nightmare?"
His wife, who came upon hearing the commotion, was over fifty years old, but her features still retained the scholarly air and gentle grace she had possessed in her youth. She was his like-minded partner and lifelong companion.
She handed over a cup of warm tea with a natural and practiced motion.
Baoyu took the teacup, looked at the person in front of him, and recalled the suffocating "golden and jade marriage" in his dream and the final outcome of becoming a monk. He was filled with mixed feelings, and he held his wife's hand tightly, feeling the warmth.
"I had a...very long nightmare."
He spoke in a low voice, which still trembled slightly.
The wife didn't ask any further questions, but simply said softly:
"Dreams are always the opposite of reality. It must be because you were discussing ancient books with Ruoying yesterday and you were thinking too much. I've prepared your favorite bamboo shoot soup for dinner, so rest a bit before you eat it."
Baoyu nodded, his gaze sweeping over his grandchildren playing outside the pavilion, over the newly renovated and vibrant garden, and then back to the tragic scene in his dream where "the birds had all been eaten and fled to the forest." A sense of relief, as if he had survived a catastrophe, welled up within him.
Everything is completely different now.
In reality, the appearance of Yuan Hongqu led everyone's fate onto a different, brighter path.
Daiyu did not die in tears. She met Mr. Yuan, who was both her teacher and her mother. Under his guidance, she became confident and resilient, and her talents were able to be displayed in the way of governing the world and helping the people. She wrote books and eventually rose to the position of governor. Finally, she married the tenth prince who had waited for her for twenty years and became the envy of women all over the world.
She lived such a wonderful and valuable life.
Xiangyun's husband, Wei Ruolan, under the indirect influence of Mr. Yuan and the support of the Tenth Prince, repeatedly made meritorious contributions in the army and returned safely. He and Xiangyun were a loving couple and had many children.
That cheerful "Yun girl" maintained her brightness and happiness throughout her life.
And Sister Feng...
When Wang Xifeng was mentioned, Baoyu felt a complex and indescribable emotion welling up in his heart.
In reality, Mr. Yuan's early intervention and years of guidance made Sister Feng restrain her ruthless methods early on, and use her shrewdness and competence to assist Daiyu in managing women's businesses and other legitimate purposes.
Sister Feng and Brother Lian were a loving and harmonious couple. Even Brother Lian's concubine, Ping'er, found a good home and eventually returned to Wang Xifeng's side as a housekeeper.
Over the years, Sister Feng has donated most of her earnings to charity, building bridges and roads, and helping the elderly and widowed, earning her the reputation of a "philanthropist".
Qiao Jie married a wonderful husband, and her son, who was never born in the book, is also safe and healthy.
This is worlds apart from the tragic fate of Sister Feng in the dream, who was swept away by a mat!
Even he himself was subtly influenced by Mr. Yuan's unconventional and encouraging remarks when he was in the Jia family.
He wasted several years, and although he still disliked the rigid, formulaic writing style, he found the path of scholarship he truly loved. He wrote books, taught and nurtured students, won the respect of the world, and supported his family.
Even more fortunately, he met a partner at the Women's Academy who truly understood him and shared his soul, and they had an outstanding son, Ruoying, and their family was happy and harmonious.
All these changes, when traced back to their source, can be traced back to one person—Mr. Yuan, who appears gentle but possesses immense energy and wisdom.
Her appearance was like a pebble thrown into stagnant waters of fate, creating ripples that were entirely different.
She protected Daiyu, guided Sister Feng, founded and influenced the academy, allowing women like Mi Ling and his wife to display their talents, indirectly changing the fates of Xiangyun, Tanchun, and others, and even pointing Jia Baoyu to a different path from the despair in his nightmares, and enabling him to have a like-minded marriage in reality.
“A dream of Nanke…it was just a dream of Nanke…” Baoyu murmured to himself, his heart filled with lingering fear and immense relief.
Fortunately, it was just a dream.
Fortunately, reality is so perfect.
That night, Baoyu tossed and turned, unable to sleep. He got up and moved to his study, where he spread out Xuan paper, ground ink, and began to write.
Instead of putting that absurd and desolate dream into words, he depicted the happy lives of people in reality:
Daiyu and the prince lived in perfect harmony, writing books and establishing doctrines; his wife worked diligently at the academy, nurturing countless students; Xiangyun and her husband were happy and surrounded by their children; Sister Feng did good deeds and enjoyed her later years in peace; their son Ruoying worked diligently at the Ministry of Works, with a bright future ahead; and there were also the lively and adorable grandchildren, and the family's stability and harmony...
After finishing writing, he looked at the vivid and heartwarming life depicted on the paper and let out a long sigh of relief.
Outside the window, the moonlight shone like a ribbon, exuding a sense of tranquility.
Jia Baoyu buried that dream deep in his heart, as if sealing away a painful memory.
Perhaps, fate truly had its own design, allowing Granny Yuan Hongqu to come among them, set things right, and guide those youthful days that should have faded away to their best possible endings.
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