The relationship between Feng Jie and Ping'er, Li Feng summed it up in this sentence: "There is a Feng Yatou, there is a you... You are a master key to your grandmother. ”
First, Ping'er to Sister Feng
I thought that Ping'er was almost the perfect girl among the daughters of the Red Chamber. Her loyalty and kindness are touching, her intelligence and competence are admirable, and she pities the weak and is understanding. Ping'er's beauty has been praised by Li Yi, and she has also regretted that she is "such a good and decent appearance, but her life is ordinary", and even said in public that Feng Jie is not as good as Ping'er, and the two people should "change their sons". The low-key Li Feng was able to praise Ping'er so warmly in front of people, which shows that Ping'er is indeed good.
That time, Li Yi was sad and sentimental, and he was also envious of The person who had Ping'er by FengJie's side. Sister Feng has a peaceful child, which is indeed a great blessing in life. Ping'er's loyalty to Sister Feng is obvious to all, and the sun and moon can be learned. Fengjie's "tone" is not good, but Ping'er always maintains Fengjie everywhere, whether it is dignity or interests.
When visiting Chun Li's house, he found many drawbacks and called Ping'er to discuss. Ping'er was humble and courteous, not only affirming Tanchun's new measures, but also covering up the mistakes for Fengjie, leaving no trace, so that Tanchun also praised Ping'er.
Ping'er's loyalty is also reflected in the protection of Fengjie's interests, she covers up the money lending for Fengjie in front of Jia Lian, afraid that Jia Lian will remember Fengjie's private money. Jia Lian secretly married Second Sister You, and the young people talked about "new grandmother" in private, which was overheard by Ping'er, and Ping'er informed Sister Feng for the first time. Although Ping'er was nominally Jia Lian's concubine, the two were rarely together, and Ping'er never complained about it.
The most rare thing is that Ping'er's treatment of Feng Jie is not only the maintenance of the master by the subordinates, but also a kind of understanding and understanding. When Sister Feng was ill, she saw that Sister Feng was still worried about housework, and she still had to use thunderous means to severely interrogate her, and she said urgently: Why bother to this heart? 'You have to let go when you have to let go', what a big deal, be happy to give grace... Moreover, I was three disasters and eight difficulties, so easy to conceive a brother, and then I fell back in six or seven months, do I know that Su Ri is too tired and angry? Where is this exhortation like a dialogue between the master and the servant? It is clearly like a girlfriend's private words of persuading a good sister.
Ping'er is not blindly loyal to Sister Feng, she is kind and thoughtful, and even Xiao Wei thinks of her good, because she often carries Sister Feng behind her back to "give grace" and do some good things. Her low-level identity determines that she has a sense of compassion and compassion for those at the lower levels.
For Jia Lian, after all, she was a person in his house, although the two people were not close on weekdays, she would still cover up the hair of many girls for him in front of Sister Feng, and would steal two hundred and two pieces of silver after Sister You's death to quietly buy him a funeral. Before Sister You was born, she took care of her behind Sister Feng's back and dismissed her, completely disregarding that Sister You's identity might endanger her own "status".
And all this Ping'er did not only did not affect Ping'er's loyalty to Fengjie, to some extent, even a good deed of accumulating virtue for Fengjie. The most valuable thing about Ping'er is that she can survive in the cracks of "the power of Fengjie, the custom of Jia Lian", but she can not only protect herself, but also protect others within her own ability.
Sister Feng's short life to be able to meet such a person as Ping'er is really a blessing that others can't envy. It is hard to imagine, if it were not for Ping'er, who else could stand by her side for a long time and accompany her through these years and years?
Second, Sister Feng to Ping'er
Ping'er is the dowry brought by Sister Feng from the Wang family, and she is also the maid who has served her since childhood. The Jinling Royal Family is one of the four famous families, and its prominent family lineage has become the proud capital of Fengjie. According to Sister Feng's always boastful behavior of the Wang family, Ping'er, the maid brought from her mother's family, is also rare and good.
At first glance, the relationship between Feng Jie and Ping'er is very similar to the relationship between Xia Jingui and Bao Toad, including the two masters who gave their dowry to their husbands as house people to win over their husbands' hearts, all of which are so similar. However, on closer inspection, these two pairs of master and servant are completely different, there is a true affection between Feng Jie and Ping'er, but there is only resentment between Jin Gui and Bao Toad.
I admit that there is a greedy and vicious side to Sister Feng's personality, and she does have blood on her hands and carries a lawsuit for human life, but I am against demonizing this character. Feng Jie is probably the most three-dimensional, richest and most complex character image in Cao Gong's pen, and she is completely different from Ping'er and Xia Jingui: Xia Jingui only uses Bao Toad without the slightest warmth, while Feng Jie has feelings for Ping'er.
First of all, with Sister Feng's dowry, there were originally four maidens, and later, "dead and dead, go to go", leaving only Ping'er a "beloved". "Beloved" comes from Xing'er's mouth, although we do not know Fengjie's past with Ping'er before she got married, but this sentence of "beloved" is credible. After all, Ping'er is indeed a "smart and handsome superior girl", and Feng Jie is the grandmother of Ai Cai's master. She accidentally summoned Xiaohong once, and she saw that she was articulate and well-done, and she wanted to come from Baoyu to collect it for her own use, which showed her love for "talent".
Ping'er has been with herself since childhood, and no one can match her thoughtfulness, so how can Sister Feng not appreciate her? Moreover, the Wang family is also a family of the clan, I am afraid that it is also the family style of "leniency" and "grace and power" like Jia Fu, and Ping'er should also be treated kindly when she was in the Wang family. Although Xia Jingui's family is rich and noble, but the widowed mother is doting and lacks tutors, Jin Gui is angry with the beard when he is at home, lightly beating and scolding, imagining that Bao Toad should not live a good life before Jin Gui married, and his heart has been resentful of his master for a long time.
Secondly, Ping'er's personality, no one does not love, and is extremely capable, Feng Jie regards her as a right arm to appoint. Sister Feng is a person who understands, she has long included Ping'er into the ranks of "her own people", from the perspective of the housekeeper, such a complex family in Jia Fu is not easy to manage, even if Sister Feng has the talent of "skirt one or two can be qi family", but she knows the truth that it is difficult to sound alone, Ping'er such a loyal and capable person, is not the best person to assist herself? Not only for Ping'er, she later also regarded Tanchun as an arm, and Feng Jie's point was praised by Li Yanzhai: "Ah Feng has talent, all in the selection of people, to collect arms and wings, not blindly self-righteous, it can be known that this party is a great talent." ”
Sister Feng can discover Ping'er's talent, trust her, reuse her, give her the right to exercise power for herself, and make Ping'er truly become a "master key" for herself. Her decentralization of power has made Ping'er a very authoritative "Ping Girl", a housekeeper lady and a maid of honor in the family, and she has no respect for Ping'er. If the women in the Red Chamber are fortunate enough to be able to show their talents and realize their own value, then, fortunately, Ping'er is one of them.
On the issue that although Ping'er gave Jia Lian, the two were rarely in one place, many readers pointed out Feng Jie's selfishness and viciousness. In this regard, I have to admit that Sister Feng is indeed jealous, and in that era, a woman's "jealousy" was detrimental to her own morality and reputation. Ping'er is the house person that FengJie made for Jia Lian in order to win jia lian and block everyone's mouth, and Fengjie is actually reluctant to "share" her husband with Ping'er.
This is easy for us modern people to understand, but in the era of "Dream of the Red Chamber", it is the failure of women's morality. Ping'er was not willing to be Jia Lian's housemate, it was Feng Jie who "forced" her; after becoming a person in the house, the two people were not allowed to be in one place often, and after You Erjie was aborted by Hu Yong doctor, Feng Jie also counted Ping'er's unblessed conception, which was extremely unkind.
Also impressive was Jia Lian's affair. Sister Feng's birthday, Jia Lian and Bao Er's family had a private meeting at home. After being broken by Feng Jie, Feng Jie and Bao Er's family fought, and later became angry with Ping'er and hit Ping'er twice. Ping'er's innocent humiliation is naturally unfair. However, Sister Feng's regret afterwards was not pretended. Ping'er herself also said that Feng Jie had never played a finger of herself in normal days, and that time was an accident. Sister Feng lost her morality after drinking, and Ping'er chose to forgive.
Privately, Feng Jie also ate at a table with Ping'er. Ping'er also pays attention to etiquette and refuses to cross. Although there is an insurmountable class gap between the master and the servant, there is still warmth. On the other hand, Xia Jingui and Bao Toad are left with nothing left: Jin Gui regards Bao Toad as a pawn to play with Xiangling, and Bao Toad sees this as an opportunity to fly up the branches. Two people are pregnant with ghosts, and in order to maintain their own selfish desires, they do not turn against each other.
Although in the eyes of our readers today, Fengjie's affection for Ping'er is far less than Ping'er's deep friendship for Fengjie, we must also see that Cao Gong's characters are after all living in their time, and it is impossible to jump out of the limitations of the times.
Author: Du Ruo, this article is to read less of the original works of the Red Chamber.