You're correct, of course. "For it" is an old-fashioned British expression meaning "in big trouble", as you could probably guess. I don't think it would be a natural thing for an upper-class person like Wang Xifeng to say, so I think Hawkes intended her to be talking down to the servants in their own "language".
Most likely Wang didn't received formal education or was never interested in it, therefore couldn't read or write much (see Chapter 74: 「鳳姐因當家理事，每每看開帖並帳目，也頗識得幾個字了。」and Chapter 28: 「鳳姐...見寶玉來了，笑道：『你來的好。進來，進來，替我寫幾個字兒。...大紅妝緞四十匹，蟒緞四十匹，上用紗各色一百匹，金項圈四個。 』). As you probably know, it was nothing surprising even for highborn ladies back then, esp. one from a military family.
As she strikes me as a tactful and unpretentious (in sense of never being a pseudo-intellectual) character, it's fitting that she didn't and wouldn't try to sound posh or upper-class in front of the servants.
"for it": https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/be-for-it-be-in-for-it
"good and proper": https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/good-and-proper
I mean, it’s clearly British - but it’s still a poor translation of what the Chinese says even if you are intimitely familiar with this phrasing…
You're correct, of course. "For it" is an old-fashioned British expression meaning "in big trouble", as you could probably guess. I don't think it would be a natural thing for an upper-class person like Wang Xifeng to say, so I think Hawkes intended her to be talking down to the servants in their own "language".
Most likely Wang didn't received formal education or was never interested in it, therefore couldn't read or write much (see Chapter 74: 「鳳姐因當家理事，每每看開帖並帳目，也頗識得幾個字了。」and Chapter 28: 「鳳姐...見寶玉來了，笑道：『你來的好。進來，進來，替我寫幾個字兒。...大紅妝緞四十匹，蟒緞四十匹，上用紗各色一百匹，金項圈四個。 』). As you probably know, it was nothing surprising even for highborn ladies back then, esp. one from a military family.
As she strikes me as a tactful and unpretentious (in sense of never being a pseudo-intellectual) character, it's fitting that she didn't and wouldn't try to sound posh or upper-class in front of the servants.
See above comment
Thank you. Good quotations. It strikes me that this is in a lot of contrast to the very educated younger women in the poetry club in Book 2.
There seems to be a transcription error: 橫豎你們上房裡也有時辰「鐘」, not 「鍾」.