Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 40: Talking about Qin Keqing

I bow to all the readers!
Let's get straight to the point. There was this paragraph in the original text: "She is graceful and delicate, has a romantic personality, behaves gently and peacefully, and is praised by Lady Jia as the first proud one among her great-grandson's wives."

From today's perspective, these are all good words. The problem is that in the era when the book was written, how could "graceful and delicate" be used to describe a wife? Words like "dignified" and "virtuous" were used to describe the wives of respectable families.

At Jia's age, she has many great-grandchildren, but only one great-grandchild's wife is Qin. This "first" is always her, whether counting forward or backward, which is meaningless, but why do we have to mention it?
Moreover, as soon as Qin died, Grandmother Jia immediately stopped Baoyu from leaving. This is very telling.

Let's look at what Baoyu saw and heard in Qin Keqing's room: on the table stood the precious mirror that had been placed in Wu Zetian's mirror room. Next to it stood the golden plate on which Feiyan had danced, and inside the plate was the papaya that An Lushan had thrown and injured Taizhen's breast. Above it was the couch where Princess Shouchang slept in Hanzhang Palace, and hanging it was the lingzhu curtain made by Princess Tongchang.

Many people simply brush this off, regarding the Qin family as wealthy and powerful. However, a closer look reveals that there is more to this story. When Wu Zetian was emperor, she openly sought out her favorite male lover, even spending time with him in a room filled with mirrors. Could this precious mirror be anything good?
Zhao Feiyan had a bad reputation in ancient times. Abandoned by her parents, she survived and was trained as a dancer by Princess Yang'e. A "ji" (concubine) was different from a concubine; in ancient times, it was used to entertain guests. Could the golden plate she used for dancing be a good one?

Third, everyone knows about An Lushan's claws, right? Let's skip this. Later, Baoyu says Baochai looks like Concubine Yang, and Baochai immediately gets angry! Why? Concubine Yang wasn't exactly known for her reputation back then.

The last two have other meanings, so we won’t discuss them here. These three alone are enough to explain the problem.

Which decent wife would use these three things?
What does Qin use it for?
Whether it is what Jiao Da said or these furnishings, they all illustrate Qin's true nature - lustful.

Some readers said that Qin was forced. If she was really forced, her room would not be decorated like this.

Where did the idea that Qin Shi was forced come from? It's said to be related to the earlier zzzq. Later, a senior online writer pioneered the idea by writing fan fiction about the Dream of the Red Chamber. The article also used this idea and creatively proposed that Qin Shi was the most beautiful woman in the novel. This has become a stereotype that has persisted to this day.

What's "forced"? What's "the most beautiful woman in the Red Chamber"? The book only mentions both beauty and beauty, but never says she's the most beautiful. It's like saying a woman possesses the beauty of "Pang Di" or "Fairy Sister". Can you imagine what she looks like?
Seeing this, some people will definitely curse: I don’t care, she is the most beautiful. Others write like this, why do you have to be different? Are you asking for trouble?
Well, whatever. Anyway, I am writing a Red Mansion fan fiction, not a parody of the Red Mansion.
Anyway, what I write is not a piece of cool writing. Before the book club exploded, the active ones in it were all old readers who had a certain understanding of the Dream of the Red Chamber. I wrote in advance that Qin Shi is the main slut. Those who don’t like it can just cross it out, and those who can accept it can continue reading. How great is that?

It's better than writing like this once it's published, and you scolding me for cheating me out of my money, right? Since this is a Red Mansions fanfiction, the characters should at least stick to the original novel. Even if there are differences, they should be justified, right? I can't be blind and write Qin Shi as a good person, knowing what she is, right?
Similarly, dear readers, there is no need to feel sorry for Qin. This is how Cao Gong wrote it in the original work. There is really no need to find fault with me.

Another reader said, why just mention it briefly, why write in such detail?

Qin Keqing, an adopted daughter, was able to marry into the Jia family as a principal wife. This involved a coalition of interests. I won't go into detail, and I'll just write about how the Jia family fared in the end. Maybe everyone will just think I'm following the original novel.

The struggle behind this is extremely important to the protagonist and foreshadows the story later on. To say more would be spoilers, but it's crucial. I wrote about Qin Keqing not to nail her to the pillar of shame, but to set a very important storyline.

I think I read the book Dream of the Red Chamber briefly when I was in school. The last book was about a fan fiction of the book. Although I revisited it once and read many analyses, when I think about it now, I probably only understood the basics.

Now I have read the book again and read it again. After reading some analysis, I feel that I have a new understanding of the book. I feel that the more I read the book, the more interesting it is. "The truth is hidden, and the lies are preserved." Many things in the book are said in a sarcastic way, and some are just one-sided.

It's just like Wang Ziteng, a military general in the field, recommending Jia Yucun to be the Minister of War. No matter how you think about it, it doesn't make sense.

It is precisely because of this new understanding that I started writing this book - otherwise, if I didn't exchange the bottles and the wine, it would really be a waste of money.

In short, I tried to change the perspective and review the Dream of the Red Chamber with everyone!
Yours sincerely.

(End of this chapter)