In Chapter Forty of Dream of the Red Chamber, Grandmother Shi held two banquets in Grand View Garden, and it was also Granny Liu's second visit to Rongguo Residence.
At the time, they took a boat to Hengwu Garden and encountered withered lotus leaves along the way. They had not seemed like much from the shore, but once they were on the water, the dead leaves became quite an obstruction and nearly overturned the boat.
Jia Baoyu complained, "These damn lotus leaves are hateful. Why hasn't anyone pulled them out yet?"
Xue Baochai said with a smile, "These past few days, when has this garden had a moment's peace? We wander through it every day. Where would there be time to have someone tidy it up?"
But Lin Daiyu said, "I dislike Li Shangyin's poetry the most, except for this one line of his: 'Leave the withered lotus to hear the sound of rain.' Yet you all refuse to leave the dead lotus."
Jia Baoyu immediately changed his tune. "It truly is a fine line. From now on, let's not have anyone pull them out."
This showed just how hopelessly biased Jia Baoyu was. No matter how eloquent or reasonable Xue Baochai's words were, they could not compare to Lin Daiyu saying, "I like it." Just like that, the withered lotus was spared.
Naturally, this was not the point the provincial graduate wanted to tell Nick. After disembarking, they entered Hengwu Garden together. It was as bare as a snow cave, without a single colorful ornament. On the table sat a plain Ding Kiln vase holding several chrysanthemums.
Hengwu Garden was Xue Baochai's residence. Had Wang Xifeng treated her poorly, or had she treated her poorly?
Wang Xifeng disliked Xue Baochai, just as Lady Wang disliked Lin Daiyu.
Wang Xifeng