Although he was the chief of the family in the Rongguo Mansion and inherited the hereditary position, within the family, Jia Yu's status was nothing. When Daiyu first entered the mansion, we can observe an anomalous phenomenon: Jia Yu, the eldest son, lives in a corner of the Rong mansion, while the main courtyard is occupied by his younger brother Jia Zheng. In a patriarchal society that values the order of the elders and the young, this arrangement is clearly unreasonable. In the subsequent description, we learned that the affairs of the Rong Mansion were handled by Jia Zheng and his wife, while Jia Yu and his wife were marginalized, and even their son and daughter-in-law lived in Jia's mother's backyard and were alienated from them.
The reason for this is all because of Jia's mother's eccentricity. In the face of all kinds of injustice, although Jia Yu and his wife did not dare to openly resist, their hearts were full of unwillingness. They secretly competed with Jia Zheng and his wife, such as when building the Grand View Garden, Jia Zhen and Jia Lian were very busy, but Jia Yu stayed at home leisurely. In the incident of forcibly marrying a mandarin duck, it was not out of love for mandarin ducks, but to fight against Jia's mother, as Jia's mother said, "torture her so that she can fiddle with me". After discovering the embroidered spring sac in the Grand View Garden, Mrs. Xing took advantage of this to make a big fuss and challenged Mrs. Wang, trying to seize greater power.
These two forces fought each other in the mansion, devouring each other like the black's eye described by Tanchun. After the Daguanyuan was raided, Jia Yu and his wife did not gain the upper hand in this power struggle, and they began to complain about Jia's mother. At the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet a few days later, Jia Yu finally couldn't hold back and provoked Jia's mother twice.
At the 76th Mid-Autumn Festival Banquet, everyone played a game of drumming and passing flowers, and whoever passed it on would tell a joke. When it was Jia Yu's turn, the jokes he told pointed directly at his mother's partiality. He said: "There was a son who was very filial to his mother, but his mother suddenly fell ill. After they sought medical treatment everywhere to no avail, they invited an acupuncture mother-in-law. The mother-in-law didn't understand medical science, and thought that the heart was hot, so she suggested acupuncture. The son worriedly asked, 'What if my heart dies if it touches a needle?' The mother-in-law replied, 'Don't worry, you don't know that most parents in the world are biased.' ’”
In this joke, Jia Yu expressed his dissatisfaction with his mother's partiality in a sarcastic way. The Mid-Autumn Festival banquet ended in an awkward and tense atmosphere. Everyone laughed, but as Jia Yu's mother and Jia's mother's family, Jia Mu understood as soon as she heard this, this was Jia Yu insinuating and sarcastically mocking herself. His words were vicious, like a needle pricking her in the heart. In this case, Jia Mu, who has always paid attention to decency, couldn't help it. After being silent for a long time, she sneered: "I also hope that someone can prick this mother-in-law with a needle and see if she can cure her mouth." ”
After Jia Yu heard this, he immediately jumped up and diverted the topic with other topics, trying to alleviate the awkward atmosphere. However, he did not stop there, but intensified his efforts to continue to provoke Jia Mu and Jia Zheng.
Next, the flower passed to Jia Huan, and Jia Huan also learned from Baoyu and Jia Lan to compose a poem. Helplessly, Jia Zheng saw that there was a dislike for reading in the poem, and he was dissatisfied with it, calling it a "cult". Unexpectedly, after Jia Yu read it, he praised it greatly, and he commented: "I think this poem has a lot of backbone."
People like us are naturally different from those who are poor and sour, and they don't have to read poetry and books and gold list titles to raise their eyebrows. As long as our children are a little literate and can get a half-official position, they don't have to be overly knowledgeable. Why bother raising those nerds? That's why I love this poem, it shows the spirit of Houmen. ”
After that, he turned around and ordered someone to bring many playthings and reward them to Jia Huan. He patted Jia Huan's head again and said with a smile: "If you do this in the future, this is the descendant of our Houmen." This hereditary future will be yours. However, Jia Yu's words belittled Jia's mother and Jia Zheng's room to nothing.
First of all, he said that for a family like Jiafu, to be an official, you don't have to read poetry and books and gold list titles, but only need to inherit the family business and inherit the official position. This argument is obviously a negation of Jia Zheng's efforts to study the scriptures and obtain a half-official position through the imperial examination.
Second, he asserted that the future hereditary future would be Jia Huan's. However, before Jia Huan, there were two brothers, Jia Baoyu and Jia Lan. Unless something happens to them, it is impossible for Jia Huan to take the hereditary position. This is undoubtedly a curse on the two brothers.
Again, his words also implied a mockery of the distinction between the elders and the young and the inferior and the descendants of the Rong Mansion. At this moment, Jia Zheng was able to live in the main courtyard, obviously because of Jia's mother's preference, rather than following the rules of the family. Jia Yu's words did not imply that the internal order of the Rong Mansion was chaotic. In the days to come, Jia Huan will also have the opportunity to surpass Jia Baoyu and Jia Lan and inherit our family title.
Here, I have to point out that grandmother, your partiality towards children is too obvious. Jia Yu's words were full of sarcasm and accusations, which made the atmosphere tense to the extreme. In the face of his attack, Jia Zheng chose to avoid his edge and responded simply to quell the dispute. However, Jia Yu's words pierced Jia Mu's heart like a sharp sword, making her extremely angry.
After sending off the clansmen who had stirred up the trouble, the fence was removed, and the ladies reunited to share the cold Mid-Autumn night. Soon, someone came to report that Jia Yu had accidentally broken his foot. Mother Jia ordered Mrs. Xing to visit, and then asked You Shi to go back with her, and then she herself rested. You wanted to stay with Jia's mother, but Jia's mother laughed and refused, saying that the young couple should still enjoy the reunion night. After hearing this, You Shi smiled and said: "The ancestor is right, although we are young, we have been husband and wife for many years, and we are about to enter the age of no confusion. What's more, the filial piety has not yet expired, and it is natural to spend a night with the old lady, so how can you take care of yourself for the sake of reunion? ”
Jia Mu listened to You Shi's words and nodded in agreement, but suddenly mentioned the late Jia Jing. However, Jia Jing passed away in April and May last year, and it has only been more than a year. Not really. Yan Zhai's annotation reveals the truth: Jia Mu is not missing Jia Jing here, but hinting at Jia Yu's death. She apparently noticed the confusion and foot injury of Jia Yu, and guessed that he might die soon. Driven by anger, she even inadvertently revealed her expectations for Jia Jing's early death when she talked about Jia Jing's death day.
On this Mid-Autumn Night, despite the scarcity of family members and the bleak environment, the undercurrent and murderous motives hidden beneath the calm surface foreshadowed the intensification of the struggle within the Rong Mansion. And behind all this, it indicates that the decline of this family is close at hand.