Does Wang Xifeng Really Care?
It’s time, once again, to ask one of those pesky literary questions that we honestly do not have an answer for.
In yesterday’s translation post, we saw Wang Xifeng intervene to stop Jia Baoyu from riding horseback with the other men:
鳳姐因惦記著寶玉，怕他在郊外縱性，不服家人的話，賈政管不著，惟恐有閃失，因此，命小廝來喚他。
But Wang Xifeng was worried about Jia Baoyu. She was worried that he would do whatever he wanted if he was outside, that he wouldn’t listen to what he was told, and that Jia Zheng would be unable to control him. Since she was worried that something might go wrong, she had a young servant call him over.
But is Wang Xifeng really concerned about Jia Baoyu out of some sort of familial affection? Or is something else going on here?
