In Chapter Forty-One of Dream of the Red Chamber, after leaving that "snow cave" in Hengwu Garden, Granny Liu went with Grandmother Jia and the others to drink tea at Green Bower Nunnery. Afterward, Grandmother Jia felt tired and went to rest at Paddy-Scented Village. The others accompanied Granny Liu beneath the archway of the "Villa of Imperial Visits," which Granny Liu mistook for the archway of the "Jade Emperor Temple."
Whether Granny Liu truly could not read or was deliberately trying to amuse everyone, she had them all laughing. Then her stomach began rumbling, and she hurriedly pulled over a young maid to ask for two sheets of paper before relieving herself. When she emerged from the latrine, the breeze dispelled some of her drunkenness, but her age left her dizzy and disoriented, unable to tell which way was which.
Like the man of Wuling, she slowly followed a pebble path until she reached a house. She searched for a long time without finding the door. Later, she walked along the bamboo fence and floral trellis for some distance, discovered a moon gate, and went through it. Before her was another pool of clear running water, spanned by a slab of white stone.
She stepped across on the stone, turned two more corners, and finally saw a door. A girl came toward her, walking over with a smile on her face.
Granny Liu hurriedly said, "The young ladies left me behind, and I bumped my way all the way here."
Yet the girl did not answer. Granny Liu reached for her hand, only to crash into a wooden wall, banging her head painfully.
She stared closely for a long while before realizing it was a painting.
She touched it here and looked at it there. It was unlike the