Zhen Shiyin Expounds in Detail the Truth of the Great Illusory Realm; Jia Yucun Concludes the Dream of the Red Chamber

When Baochai heard Qiuewen say that Xiren was unwell, she hurried in to see her. Qiaojie and Ping'er also followed to Xiren's bedside. They saw that Xiren was in great pain, had stopped breathing, and had fainted. Baochai and the others gave her warm water to revive her, helped her lie down, and sent for a doctor. Qiaojie asked Baochai, "How did Sister Xiren become so ill?" Baochai said, "A few nights ago she grieved too much and suddenly fainted. Lady Wang had someone help her back, and she fell ill. At the time the household had many matters, and no one had time to call a doctor, so it dragged on to this." As she spoke, the doctor arrived, and Baochai and the others withdrew for the time being. The doctor took her pulse and said it was a case of acute fire attacking the heart and depressed breath injuring the body. He wrote a prescription and left.

Xiren, in a daze, heard people around her say that if Baoyu never returned, all the maids in the room would be sent away. She grew anxious, and her illness worsened. After the doctor left, Qiuewen went to brew her medicine. Xiren lay alone, her mind wandering. She seemed to see Baoyu standing before her, then again like a monk, holding a register and saying to her, "Do not make the wrong decision. I no longer recognize any of you." Xiren was about to speak to him when Qiuewen came in and said, "The medicine is ready. Drink it quickly, sister." Xiren opened her eyes and saw it had been a dream. She did not tell anyone. After drinking the medicine, she quieted her mind and thought carefully: Baoyu must have followed the monk and left the world. The last time he wanted to take the jade and go out, he had already meant to escape. I held him back, and he was not at all as he used to be. He pushed me away with all his strength, without a trace of former affection. Later he grew colder and more weary of Baochai, and he had no warmth for the other sisters either. That is the look of one who has seen through the red dust. But if he has seen through it, what will become of Baochai? I was sent by Lady Wang to serve him. Though I receive the same monthly allowance as a concubine, in the end my status was never formally settled before the Master and Lady Wang. If the Master and Lady Wang send me away, and I insist on staying and will not leave, people will laugh at me. But if I leave, remembering Baoyu's former kindness, I truly cannot bear it. She thought it over again and again, caught between two difficulties. She also remembered the words in the dream, which seemed to say that her fate with Baoyu was finished. She thought it would be better to die. But after taking the medicine, the pain in her heart lessened somewhat. Though she was still unwell, she could only struggle on. After a few days, she rose and continued to serve Baochai. Baochai, thinking of Baoyu, often wept in secret and lamented her bitter fate. She also knew her mother planned to spend money to redeem Xue Pan and was busy raising funds everywhere, and she herself had to help plan. Let this matter rest for now.

Now Jia Zheng was escorting Mother Jia's coffin, and Jia Rong was escorting the coffins of Qin Keqing, Wang Xifeng, and Yuanyang. Together they brought them to Jinling and buried them properly. Jia Rong then went to bury Lin Daiyu's coffin. Jia Zheng managed the grave matters there. One day he received a letter from home. Reading it section by section, he saw that Baoyu and Jia Lan had passed as provincial graduates, and he was overjoyed. Then he read that Baoyu had disappeared after the examination, and he grew anxious. He could only hurry home. On the road he heard of the imperial decree of general amnesty, and then received another family letter saying that Jia She and the others had been pardoned and restored to office. He was even more delighted and traveled day and night.

One day he reached the post station at Piling. The weather had just turned cold, and snow was falling. The boat moored at a quiet bank. Jia Zheng sent his men ashore to visit relatives and friends, deliver cards, and take leave, saying the boat would soon depart and there was no need for anyone to see him off. Only a young servant remained on the boat to attend him. Jia Zheng was in the cabin writing a family letter, intending to send someone home ahead. When he came to the part about Baoyu, he stopped writing. He looked up and saw, in the snow at the bow, a figure standing with a bare head and bare feet, wearing a great red felt cloak, kneeling and knocking his head toward Jia Zheng. Jia Zheng could not at first see who it was. He hurried out of the cabin to help him up and ask who he was. The figure had already knocked his head four times and rose, making a monk's salute. Jia Zheng was about to return the salute when he looked closely. It was none other than Baoyu. Jia Zheng was greatly startled and quickly asked, "Are you Baoyu?" The figure did not speak. His expression seemed both joyful and sorrowful. Jia Zheng asked again, "If you are Baoyu, why are you dressed like this and come here?" Before Baoyu could answer, two men appeared at the bow, one a monk and one a Daoist. They flanked Baoyu, one on each side, and said, "The bonds of the dusty world are finished. Why do you not come quickly?" Then the three drifted lightly ashore and left. Jia Zheng, heedless of the slippery ground, hurried after them. He could see the three just ahead, yet no matter how he chased, he could not catch up. He heard one of them, he knew not which, singing:

Where I dwell is Blue Ridge Peak.
Where I roam is the vast void.
Who roams with me?
And whom do I follow?
Vast and vague, I return to the Great Wilderness.

Jia Zheng listened as he chased. Turning a small earthen slope, the three suddenly vanished. Jia Zheng chased until he was out of breath, both startled and doubtful. He turned and saw the young servant also running after him. Jia Zheng asked, "Did you see those three?" The servant said, "I saw them. I saw you chasing, Master, and ran after you. Then I saw only you, and the three were gone." Jia Zheng wanted to search further, but before him was only a vast white wilderness, with no trace of anyone. Jia Zheng knew this was no ordinary matter and had to turn back to the boat.

The servants returned to the boat and, not seeing Jia Zheng in the cabin, asked the boatman. The boatman said, "The Master went ashore to chase a monk, a Daoist, and a young man." The others also followed the footprints in the snow and searched. From afar they saw Jia Zheng returning and hurried to meet him. Together they went back to the boat. Jia Zheng sat down, caught his breath, and told everyone what he had seen of Baoyu. After hearing it, they wanted to search nearby. Jia Zheng sighed. "You do not understand. I saw it with my own eyes. It was not a ghost or spirit. And the song had deep meaning. Baoyu was born with a piece of jade in his mouth. It was strange from the beginning. I long felt it was not a good omen, but Old Ancestor loved him, so he was raised to this age. I have seen that monk and Daoist three times. The first time, this monk and Daoist came and spoke of the jade's origin. The second time, when Baoyu was gravely ill, they came, held the jade, and chanted over it, and Baoyu recovered. The third time, they brought the jade back, sat in the front hall, and in a blink disappeared. I felt strange even then, but thought only that Baoyu was blessed and had holy monks and immortals protecting him. Who would have thought Baoyu had come down to the mortal world to undergo a trial and had fooled Old Ancestor for nineteen years! Only today do I understand." Here tears fell. The others said, "If Second Master Bao truly was an immortal come down to earth, he should not have passed as a provincial graduate. Why did he wait until after he passed to leave?" Jia Zheng said, "You do not know. The stars of heaven, the holy monks in the mountains, and the spiritual beings in cave heavens all have their own natures. You saw how Baoyu ordinarily would not study properly, yet whenever he applied himself even a little, there was nothing he could not do. His nature was always different from others." He sighed several more times. The others comforted Jia Zheng with the news that Jia Lan had passed and the family would revive. Jia Zheng finished the family letter and wrote of this matter in it, urging the family not to grieve for Baoyu. After sealing the letter, he sent it home at once. Jia Zheng himself continued his journey home. Of this no more for now.

When Aunt Xue received the news that Xue Pan could be pardoned, she had Xue Ke borrow money everywhere and added her own savings to make up the redemption silver. The Ministry of Justice approved, accepted the silver, completed the documents, and released Xue Pan. Mother and son, sisters, and brothers met again. There is no need to describe it in detail; naturally grief and joy mingled. Xue Pan swore, "If I ever fall into my old ways again, I will willingly be cut to pieces!" Aunt Xue, seeing him like this, reached out to cover his mouth and said, "If only you can control yourself, why swear such a bloody oath? Xiangling suffered so much with you, and your former wife took her own life. Though our family is not what it was, we can still manage food and clothing. In my view, let Xiangling be counted as your proper wife. What do you think?" Xue Pan nodded. Baochai and the others also said, "It should be so." Xiangling blushed crimson and said, "It is my duty to serve the Master. Why do this?" Everyone then called Xiangling "Elder Mistress," and no one was dissatisfied. Xue Pan planned to go to the Jia house to thank them, and Aunt Xue and Baochai went too. When they saw everyone in the Jia household, they gathered together and talked of many things.

As they were speaking, the servant Jia Zheng had sent home with the letter returned and presented the letter, saying, "The Master will soon be home." Lady Wang told Jia Lan to read the letter aloud to everyone. When Jia Lan read the part where Jia Zheng had seen Baoyu with his own eyes, everyone wept bitterly. Lady Wang, Baochai, and Xiren wept especially hard. They comforted one another with what Jia Zheng had written: they should not grieve too much, for Baoyu had been born by borrowing a mortal womb. "If he had become an official and then, by ill fate, committed a fault and brought down the family, that would have been worse. For our family to produce one who attained the fruit of the Way may be counted merit accumulated by the Master and Lady Wang, and that is why he was born into our house. If I may speak boldly, the old Master of the East House cultivated for more than ten years and did not become an immortal. To attain Buddhahood is even harder. If Lady Wang thinks of it this way, her heart may find some peace." Lady Wang wept and said to Aunt Xue, "Baoyu abandoned me, and I still resent him. What pains me is Baochai's bitter fate. Married only a year or two, how could he have the heart to abandon his wife and leave?" Aunt Xue was also grieved. Baochai wept until she nearly fainted. The men were in the outer room. Lady Wang went on, "I worried over him all my life. At last I got him a wife, and he passed as a provincial graduate. I heard his wife was with child, and only then did I begin to feel a little at ease. Who would have thought it would end like this? If I had known, I should never have married him and ruined the girl!" Aunt Xue said, "This was all fated. In a family like ours, there is no other way. Fortunately Baochai is with child. If she bears a boy, he will surely amount to something, and there will be hope. Look at Elder Mistress Li Wan. Now Jia Lan has passed as a provincial graduate. Next year if he passes as a metropolitan graduate, he will become an official. She suffered bitterly before, and now bitterness has turned to sweetness. That is the reward for her goodness. You know our girl's nature, sister. She is not harsh or frivolous. Do not worry too much." Lady Wang heard the reason in Aunt Xue's words and thought privately: Baochai was quiet and detached from childhood, and so met this fate. It seems a person's life truly has its fixed number. She saw that although Baochai wept bitterly, her bearing was still dignified and steady, and she even came to comfort her. It was truly rare. She thought: I never expected that Baoyu could not keep even a little earthly blessing. After thinking a while, she felt somewhat comforted. Then she thought of Xiren: "The other maids are easy to arrange. The older ones can be married off, and the younger ones can stay to serve Baochai. But Xiren—how should she be settled?" With so many people present, it was not convenient to speak in detail. She planned to discuss it with Aunt Xue that evening.

That day Aunt Xue did not go home. Worried Baochai would grieve, she stayed in Baochai's room to comfort her. Baochai was very reasonable. She thought: Baoyu was always unlike others. The bonds of former lives were all fated. There was no use complaining against Heaven. She even explained this to her mother. Aunt Xue was reassured and went to Lady Wang, telling her what Baochai had said. Lady Wang nodded and sighed, "If I had no virtue, I would not have such a good daughter-in-law." As she spoke, she grieved again. Aunt Xue comforted her a while, then brought up Xiren: "I see Xiren has grown very thin lately. Her heart is still set on Bao. For a proper wife to keep chastity is right, and there are precedents for a concubine willing to remain a widow. But though Xiren was counted as one of Baoyu's people, her status was never formally settled." Lady Wang said, "I was just thinking of this too and was about to discuss it with you, sister. If we send her out, I fear she will be unwilling and may threaten to die. If we keep her in the household to remain a widow, I fear the Master will not agree. It is truly difficult." Aunt Xue said, "In my view, the Master will certainly not let her stay in the household as a widow. Besides, the Master does not know Xiren's situation and would only take her for an ordinary maid. How would he agree to keep her? Better, sister, to call her family and instruct them carefully to find her a proper family, and give her a generous dowry. The child has a good heart and is still young. That would not fail her years of service to you, and would show your kindness. I will gradually sound Xiren out. There is no need to tell Xiren in advance to call her family. When her family has truly settled on a good match, we will inquire and make sure the family is well off and the man upright, and then tell her to marry." Lady Wang said, "That is a good plan. Otherwise, if the Master deals with it rashly, will we not harm another person?" Aunt Xue nodded. "Indeed." After a few more words, she took leave of Lady Wang and returned to Baochai's room.

Seeing Xiren's face covered with tears, Aunt Xue slowly comforted and admonished her. Xiren was honest by nature and not eloquent. Aunt Xue said one thing, and she answered one thing. Then she said, "I am only a servant. You honor me by speaking to me like this, Aunt Xue. I have never dared disobey Lady Wang's instructions." Aunt Xue thought: She is truly a gentle girl. She felt even more tender toward her. Baochai also explained the great principles to her, and for the time being everyone was calm.

After a few days, Jia Zheng returned home. Everyone went out to welcome him. Jia Zheng saw that Jia She and Jia Zhen had both returned. Brothers, uncles, and nephews met and told one another what they had experienced since parting. Then the women of the inner quarters met, and inevitably they thought of Baoyu and grieved together. Jia Zheng stopped them, saying, "This was all fated. From now on, the men will manage affairs outside, and you women will help inside. You must not be as slack and scattered as before. Each household should manage its own affairs and not leave everything to one place. The internal affairs of our branch will be given to Lady Wang. Everything must be done according to reason." Lady Wang told Jia Zheng that Baochai was with child and also mentioned the plan to gradually release the maids to be married. Jia Zheng heard and only nodded, saying little.

The next day Jia Zheng entered court and paid his respects to the ministers. He said, "By imperial grace I am deeply grateful. But I am still in mourning and do not know how to thank the Emperor. I beg the ministers to instruct me." The ministers said they would memorialize on his behalf. The Emperor, in his benevolence, issued a decree summoning Jia Zheng. Jia Zheng entered the palace to thank the Emperor. The Emperor issued several more decrees and asked about Baoyu. Jia Zheng reported truthfully. The Emperor found the matter strange and decreed that Baoyu's essays were clear and extraordinary, and that he must be a person of some origin. If he had served in court, he would surely have accomplished much. Since he was unwilling to accept office, the Emperor granted him the Daoist title "Perfected Man of Wondrous Literature." Jia Zheng knocked his head again in thanks and withdrew from court and returned home.

Back at the house, Jia Lian and Jia Zhen came forward to welcome him. Jia Zheng told them what had happened at court, and everyone was pleased. Jia Zhen reported, "The Ningguo House has been put in order. I plan to move back. The Green Lattice Hermitage is within the Grand View Garden, so it will be left for Fourth Girl Xichun to cultivate in quietly." Jia Zheng said nothing. After a while he instructed everyone to remember the Emperor's grace. Jia Lian took the chance to report, "The marriage of Qiaojie—both Father and Lady Xing have agreed to give her to the Zhou family." Jia Zheng had heard the night before of Qiaojie's earlier danger and said, "Let the Elder Master and Lady Xing decide that matter. Do not think a country family is unsuitable. As long as the family is upright and the boy is willing to study and advance, it is enough. Are all officials in court from the city?" Jia Lian assented and added, "Father is advanced in years and still has his old phlegm illness. He can rest quietly for a few years. The affairs of the household will still depend on Second Master to manage." Jia Zheng said, "As for resting quietly in the country, that suits my mind. Only, I have received deep imperial grace and have not yet repaid it." With that, Jia Zheng went into the inner quarters. Jia Lian sent someone to invite Granny Liu to settle Qiaojie's marriage. Granny Liu saw Lady Wang and the others and said many auspicious things about the Jia descendants rising in office and the family flourishing again.

As they were speaking, a maid came in and announced, "Hua Zifang's wife has come to pay her respects." Lady Wang asked her a few questions. Hua Zifang's wife said that a relative had acted as matchmaker and proposed a family named Jiang in the south of the city. The man's family had houses, land, and shops. He was a few years older and had never married. His character was one in a hundred. Lady Wang heard and found it suitable. She said, "First agree to the match. Come in a few days to fetch your sister." Lady Wang also had someone inquire privately, and all said the Jiang family was indeed good. Lady Wang told Baochai and also invited Aunt Xue. They explained the matter to Xiren in detail. Xiren was grief-stricken but did not dare disobey Lady Wang's arrangement. She remembered how Baoyu had once come to her home and said before leaving that he would rather die than come back. She thought: Now Lady Wang insists on marrying me off. If I insist on remaining here, people will say I have no shame. But if I marry, it is truly not my heart. She wept until she could hardly speak. Aunt Xue and Baochai urged her earnestly. Xiren thought again: If I die in the Jia house, I will fail Lady Wang's kindness. If I am to die, I should die in my own home.

So Xiren held back her grief and took leave of everyone. When the sisters parted, there was naturally much reluctance. Xiren, resolved to die, rode home in the carriage. When she saw her brother and sister-in-law, she wept without stopping, unable to speak her bitterness. Hua Zifang showed her the betrothal gifts from the Jiang family and pointed out the dowry prepared item by item, saying which things Lady Wang had bestowed and which the family had added. Xiren was now even more caught between difficulties. She stayed at home two days and thought carefully: Her brother had arranged this marriage with care. If she died in her brother's house, she would bring trouble on him. After a thousand thoughts and ten thousand considerations, she was at her wit's end. She could only endure for the time being.

Soon the wedding day arrived. Xiren was not by nature a shrewish person, so she had to submit and get into the bridal sedan, still thinking she would decide what to do after reaching the Jiang house. But after she married, she saw that the Jiang family conducted the affair with great seriousness, exactly according to the rites for taking a principal wife. As soon as she entered the door, the maids and serving women all called her Mistress. Xiren now wanted to seek death, but feared it would bring trouble on the Jiang family and fail their good intentions. On the wedding night, she wept and would not submit, but the bridegroom, Jiang Yuhan, was very gentle and considerate. He soothed her patiently. The next day when the chests were opened, Jiang Yuhan saw a red sash and realized she had been a maid beside Baoyu. At first he had only known that Xiren was someone from Mother Jia's household and had never expected it was Xiren herself. Jiang Yuhan remembered his former friendship with Baoyu and felt both ashamed and moved. He treated Xiren even more tenderly. He also specially brought out the pale green sash he had exchanged with Baoyu years before. When Xiren saw the sash, she knew the bridegroom was Jiang Yuhan, and only then believed that their marriage had been fated. Xiren told him all that was in her heart. Jiang Yuhan heard and sighed deeply. He respected her and did not force her, treating her with even more gentleness and care. Now Xiren had no reason to seek death. Readers, though all is fated and there is no help for it, loyal ministers, righteous men, and chaste wives cannot use the words "no help for it" to excuse themselves. This is why Xiren was placed in the Supplementary Register of the Twelve Beauties of Jinling. As the ancients wrote after passing the Peach Blossom Temple:

Through all the ages, the hardest thing is but to die;
Is brokenheartedness only for Lady Xi?

Let us not speak further of Xiren's new life. Now Jia Yucun, because of a case of greed and bribery, was investigated and found guilty. Just then the general amnesty came, and he was stripped of office and reduced to a commoner. Jia Yucun arranged for his family to set out first. He himself took a young servant and a cart of luggage and came to the Ford of the Torrent, at the Crossing of Awakening from Delusion. He saw a Daoist come out from a straw hut by the ford and greet him with clasped hands. Jia Yucun recognized him as Zhen Shiyin and quickly bowed. Zhen Shiyin said, "Master Jia, have you been well since we parted?" Jia Yucun said, "So it is the old immortal Zhen Shiyin! Last time we met, you were clearly before me but would not acknowledge me. Later I heard the straw pavilion burned down, and I was uneasy. Today I am fortunate to meet again and admire even more your lofty attainment. It is only a pity that I remained foolish and did not change, and so came to this." Zhen Shiyin said, "Last time you were in high office. How would a Daoist like me dare acknowledge you? At first, remembering our old friendship, I tried to advise you, but you kept me at a distance. Yet wealth and poverty, success and failure, are not accidental. Meeting again today is also a strange thing. Not far from here is a straw hut. Let us go in and sit and talk. What do you say?"

Jia Yucun gladly agreed. The two went hand in hand. The young servant drove the cart behind, and they came to a thatched hut. Zhen Shiyin asked Jia Yucun to sit, and a young Daoist boy served tea. Jia Yucun asked Zhen Shiyin about the way to transcend the world. Zhen Shiyin smiled. "When one thought turns, the whole dusty world becomes different. You, sir, have come from the bustling official world. Do you not know that in the land of tenderness and wealth there is a Baoyu?" Jia Yucun said, "How could I not? Recently it is said everywhere that he left the world. I once had dealings with him and never thought he could be so decisive." Zhen Shiyin said, "It is not so. This bond of a former life I knew long ago. Before you and I chatted at the gate of the old house in Renqing Lane, I had already seen Baoyu once." Jia Yucun was greatly surprised. "The capital is so far from your native place. How could you have seen him?" Zhen Shiyin said, "We had long known each other in spirit." Jia Yucun said, "If that is so, you must know where Baoyu is now." Zhen Shiyin said, "Baoyu is the Magic Jade. Before the Rongguo and Ningguo Houses were confiscated, when the bond between Baochai and Daiyu was concluded, the jade had already left the world. First, to avoid disaster; second, to bring about the marriage. From then on the former bond was finished, and the soul returned to its origin. It then showed a little divine power in the mortal world, passed the provincial examination, and left descendants, so as to prove that the jade was a wondrous treasure nurtured by Heaven and Earth, not a mortal thing. At first the Monk of Boundlessness and the Daoist of Limitlessness brought it down to undergo trial. Now the earthly bond is complete, and those two immortals have taken it back to its original place. That is Baoyu's fate." Jia Yucun listened. Though he could not fully understand, he understood most of it. He nodded and sighed. "So that is how it is. I did not know before. But since Baoyu had such an origin, why did he fall so deep into love, and yet in the end see through it completely? I beg the immortal to instruct me." Zhen Shiyin smiled. "If I speak of this matter, you may not fully understand. The Great Illusory Realm is itself a blessed land of truth. Baoyu looked through the registers and saw the whole course of his life. How could he not awaken? The Crimson Pearl Grass returned to its immortal place, and the Magic Jade naturally had to return to its origin." Jia Yucun still did not understand some parts. He knew these were immortal mysteries and did not press further. He said, "I have understood Baoyu's matter. But the many women of the Jia house, beginning with Imperial Consort Yuan, mostly came to sad ends. Why?" Zhen Shiyin sighed. "Do not blame me for speaking plainly. The women of the Jia house all came from the sea of love and the bonds of sin. Since ancient times, for women, 'lust' is of course forbidden, but even the word 'love' must not be deeply clung to. That is why Cui Yingying and Su Xiaoxiao were both immortals who stirred with mortal thoughts. Writers like Song Yu and Sima Xiangru mostly created love-karma through their writing. All who are entangled in love and cannot let go come to no good end." Jia Yucun heard this, stroked his beard, and sighed. He asked again, "May I ask, old immortal, can the Rongguo and Ningguo Houses still recover their former prosperity?" Zhen Shiyin said, "Good is rewarded with blessing, evil with disaster. This is the unchanging principle from ancient times. Now in the Rongguo and Ningguo Houses, the good continue to cultivate goodness and accumulate merit, and the evil repent and atone. In the future, the descendants of Jia Lan and Baoyu will flourish together, and the family will gradually revive. This is also natural." Jia Yucun lowered his head and thought for a long time. Suddenly he laughed. "I understand! In the household there is a Jia Lan who has already passed as a provincial graduate, which corresponds to the word 'lan.' Just now you said, old immortal, 'orchid and cassia bloom together,' and also spoke of Baoyu's 'high rank and noble son.' Does that mean Baoyu still has a posthumous son who will rise in the world?" Zhen Shiyin smiled faintly. "That is a matter for later. It is not convenient to reveal it in advance." Jia Yucun wanted to ask more, but Zhen Shiyin would not answer. He told the young Daoist to prepare food and asked Jia Yucun to eat with him.

After the meal, Jia Yucun wanted to ask about his own fate. Zhen Shiyin said, "Sir, rest a while in the straw hut. I still have one earthly bond unfinished, and today is just the day to finish it." Jia Yucun asked in surprise, "You have cultivated to such a degree. What earthly bond remains?" Zhen Shiyin said, "Nothing but the bond of a daughter." Jia Yucun was even more astonished. "What does the immortal mean?" Zhen Shiyin said, "You do not know, sir. My daughter Yinglian suffered in the mortal world from childhood. When you first became an official, you even tried her case. Now she has married into the Xue family and died in childbirth, finishing her earthly trial and leaving a son in the Xue family to continue the incense. Now is the time for her to leave the suffering of the dusty world. I am going to ferry her across." With that, Zhen Shiyin shook his sleeves and rose to leave. Jia Yucun's mind was dazed. He fell asleep in the straw hut at the Ford of the Torrent, at the Crossing of Awakening from Delusion.

Zhen Shiyin went to ferry Xiangling, sent her to the Great Illusory Realm, and handed her over to Fairy Disenchantment to check against the registers. Just as he passed the archway, he saw the monk and the Daoist drifting toward him. Zhen Shiyin came forward to greet them. "Great Monk, Perfected Man, congratulations! Have all the bonds of love been settled?" The monk and Daoist said, "The bonds of love are not yet all settled, but the stubborn stone has returned. We still must take it back to its original place and make clear its experience in the mortal world, so that its descent was not in vain." Zhen Shiyin heard this, bowed, and took leave. The monk and Daoist took the Magic Jade back to Blue Ridge Peak, placed it where the stone left over from Nuwa's mending of heaven had originally been, and then went their separate ways. From then on, "a tale from beyond heaven tells of matters beyond heaven; two kinds of people become one kind of person."

One day the Daoist of Emptiness again passed Blue Ridge Peak and saw the great stone left over from mending heaven still in its place, the writing on it still clear. He read it carefully from beginning to end and saw that after the gatha many more stories had been added, writing out the end of this bond. The Daoist of Emptiness nodded and sighed. "When I first saw this strange matter on the stone, I thought it could be made into a romance to circulate in the world, so I copied it. At the time I had not yet seen the stone return to its origin. I do not know when these later endings were added. Only then did I know that this stone, having descended to the mortal world, undergone trial, and attained completion, had no regrets. I fear that as years pass, the writing on the stone may blur and errors may appear. I had better copy it again and find an idle person in the world to entrust it to for circulation. Let people know that this matter seems strange but is ordinary; seems vulgar but contains mystery; seems true yet is not true, seems false yet is not false. Perhaps those troubled by the dreams of the dusty world may awaken through the story and let go of their obsessions. The spirits of mountains and waters will also leave this tale of the stone because of it." Having thought this, he copied the whole text again, put it in his bosom, and came to the bustling world, seeking a suitable person everywhere. But those he met were either bent on winning fame and office or struggling for food and clothing. No one had leisure to ponder the story on the stone. At last he came to the Ford of the Torrent, at the Crossing of Awakening from Delusion, and saw a man asleep in a straw hut. He thought this man must be idle and meant to show him the copied Story of the Stone. But no matter how he called, the man would not wake. The Daoist of Emptiness pulled him hard, and Jia Yucun slowly opened his eyes and sat up. He glanced through the manuscript, then put it down and said, "This matter I have seen with my own eyes and know all of it. Your copy has no errors. I will point you to a man. Entrust it to him to pass the story on, and this strange case will be concluded." The Daoist of Emptiness quickly asked who. Jia Yucun said, "Wait until a certain year, month, and day in the future, and go to the Mourning Red Studio and find Mr. Cao Xueqin. Say that Jia Yucun asked you to give him the manuscript." Then Jia Yucun lay down again and slept.

The Daoist of Emptiness remembered these words firmly. After unknowable cycles of years, he indeed found the Mourning Red Studio and saw Mr. Cao Xueqin reading old books. The Daoist of Emptiness relayed Jia Yucun's words and showed him the Story of the Stone. Cao Xueqin laughed. "Indeed, it is 'Jia Yucun's words'—words preserved in fiction!" The Daoist of Emptiness asked, "Since you understand, sir, why are you willing to help pass the story on?" Cao Xueqin laughed. "You are called Empty, and your heart is indeed empty. Since it uses false words to tell a story, as long as the text has no wrong characters and no contradictions, I may as well read it with a few close friends on a rainy night by lamplight after food and wine, for diversion. It need not be praised by great men to be handed down. To insist on tracing it to its root, as you do, is to carve a boat to seek a sword, clinging to dead doctrine." The Daoist of Emptiness heard this, laughed aloud to the sky, dropped the manuscript, and drifted away. As he went, he said, "So it is indeed only an idle, absurd piece of writing! Not only can the author not explain it, the copyist cannot explain it, and even the reader cannot fathom it. It is only a game of brush and ink, used to express feeling!"

Later someone read this romance and wrote four lines, adding another sigh beyond the original preface:

When it speaks of bitterness, its absurdity is all the more sad.
From the beginning it is all one dream—do not laugh at the world's folly!