Although "Dream of the Red Chamber" often writes about the idle affairs of rich and noble people eating, drinking and having fun, there are also some tricky things in the inner house, and one of them is precisely one thing, which is both embarrassing and makes people feel ridiculous and lamentable, which is related to the Rongguo Mansion couple Jia Yu and Lady Xing, and there is Feng Sister involved. Although this matter also embarrassed Feng Jie, she handled it well, not only cleverly avoiding contradictions, but also retreating from the whole body. This matter was that Jia Yu wanted his mother's personal servant to be a little wife, and he ordered Mrs. Xing to ask Jia Mu.
Throughout the book, this incident is a relatively important family affair in "Dream of the Red Chamber". It exposed the multiple contradictions of this aristocratic family, including: intra-family contradictions, class contradictions, mother-in-law contradictions, etc. That time, Sister Feng saw Lady Xing, and Lady Xing quietly told her that there was an embarrassing matter and that she should discuss it with Sister Feng first. This matter is the big old man Jia Yu took a fancy to the old lady's Mandarin duck, let her go to the old lady to negotiate, Lady Xing herself felt that this matter is a common thing, but afraid that the old lady did not give, asked Sister Feng what to do. There are things that can be done and there are things that cannot be done. In Wang Xifeng's view, this matter could not be done. She told Lady Xing several reasons why this could not be done: first of all, the old lady could not do without the Mandarin Duck, and must be unwilling; secondly, the old lady had a lot of dissatisfaction with the old man, thinking that he married so many little wives, it would delay others, and the elderly not only did not take good care of the body, nor did they do a good job as an official, and drank with the little wife all day, it can be seen that the old lady was very dissatisfied with the old man; finally, since this matter did not work, the old man was still doing things inappropriately, and the wife should have advised, and now the brothers, nephews, sons, and grandchildren are a large group, It is not easy to see people in this way. Wang Xifeng gave three reasons for the inappropriateness of this matter, which were explained from three angles: the relationship between the old lady and the Mandarin duck, the old lady's view of the old man, and the old man's style of acting. Logically, every reason for Sister Feng was convincing, but Lady Xing could not listen to the advice.
Lady Xing's personality, there have been many descriptions in "Dream of the Red Chamber", Cao Xueqin called her an "embarrassing person", she is somewhat "left-wing". In Wang Xifeng's eyes, this mother-in-law is "stupid and strong.". Wang Xifeng is the person who has met the wind and the rudder the most. The in-laws and mother-in-law had such a thing to discuss with her, and she could not have known that Jia Mu did not agree, and followed them to touch the nail. However, as a daughter-in-law, and facing such a mother-in-law, if she refuses bluntly, she will be hated by her mother-in-law, not to mention that Lady Xing's situation determines that she "only knows to accept Jia's forgiveness to protect herself." After Listening to Sister Feng's words, Lady Xing sneered and said that she might not be willing to persuade the old master. He also said that even if the old lady loved the most beloved maid, but there was such a pale beard and an official's eldest son who wanted her to be a room man, the old lady might not be able to dismiss it. Then she said that Sister Feng should not have sent her a no first.
Sister Feng was originally also well-intentioned to persuade, but the mother-in-law did not listen, Sister Feng saw the situation, in order to seek self-protection, she had to turn around and carry out "self-criticism". She said that what her wife said was correct, and said that she was young, did not know the weight, was a fool, and said that the old lady treated the old man just like the old lady treated the second grandfather, always rewarding him with what she liked. Finally, he said that he would let Mrs. Xing go to beg today, and he would first coax the old lady to be happy, and then lead everyone in the house away, so that it would be convenient for the wife and the old lady to talk. Why did Wang Xifeng tell Lady Xing to immediately go and ask Jia Mu for mandarin ducks? In fact, I am still afraid of the long night and dreaming. She didn't want this matter to drag on for a long time, once the matter dragged on for a long time, if Jia Mu rejected Lady Xing, Lady Xing would inevitably be suspicious of Wang Xifeng's head, because she had discussed this matter with Sister Feng at the beginning. Moreover, time has dragged on for a long time, and it is difficult to ensure that mandarin ducks know and refuse. If Mandarin Duck refuses, Lady Xing may suspect Wang Xifeng, because Wang Xifeng is the first person to know and is not optimistic about this matter. In addition, especially afraid that Jia Mu knows that Sister Feng and Mother Jia are very close, if Mother Jia refuses, Lady Xing will be even more suspicious of Sister Feng.
Lady Xing told Sister Feng not to tell the old lady first, if the old lady did not give, there would be no room for maneuver in this matter. But if you first tell the Mandarin Duck, if the Mandarin Duck agrees, the old lady will not be able to stay. Sister Feng listened, and naturally promised Lady Xing. Lady Xing asked Sister Feng to go first, saying that she would come over when she had dinner. There is a paragraph of Feng Jie's psychological activities at this time in the original text, which fully confirms Feng Jie's calculations: Feng Jie Er secretly thinks: "Mandarin duck su habit is an abomination, even so, she is willing to be strict if she is not strict." I passed first, and my wife passed after me, and if she relied on it, she would have nothing to say, and if she did not cling to it, my wife was a suspicious person, and she was afraid that she would suspect that I had gone through the wind and made him posture. At that time, my wife saw my words again, and her shame turned to anger, and she took out my anger, which was not interesting. It's not like they've passed together, she can't rely on it, she can't suspect me. After thinking about it, Inuyasha laughed and said, "... When I entered the gate, I saw the boys carrying the car, saying that the wife's car had been pulled out of the seam and was taken to clean up. It would be better if I had taken my car and gone together. Lady Xing listened and ordered someone to change her clothes. Sister Feng was busy waiting for a while, and the two mothers came by car. Sister Feng said, "If my wife goes to the old lady's place, if I follow, if the old lady asks me what I did in the past, it is not good." Why don't you go first, and I'll take off my clothes and come back. In order to avoid Lady Xing's suspicion of herself, Sister Feng wanted to go with her, so she made an excuse that Mrs. Xing's car had been pulled out of the seam and taken to clean up, so she and Lady Xing took the car to Jia Mu's side.
Sister Feng asked Lady Xing to go to Jia Mu's side first and go back to her room by herself, and Ping'er talked about it. She also thought that Lady Xing would inevitably come to the room to discuss, afraid that in front of Ping'er and the next person, her face would not look good, so she sent Ping'er to go outside to shop, and wait for Lady Xing to leave and then come back. Sister Feng's expectations were very accurate, Lady Xing went to Jia Mu's side and gossiped for a while, then went to the back to find Mandarin Duck to discuss, Mandarin Duck did not say a word, Lady Xing finished talking to her, and indeed came to Sister Feng's room. So far, Sister Feng has handled this matter more appropriately, and she has avoided all kinds of contradictions that may occur.
The following is a summary of the remarkable points of Feng Jie's approach.
At the beginning of the incident, she had already advised Lady Xing that this matter could not be done, and she had fulfilled her responsibility as a daughter-in-law. Sister Feng's reasons are also very sufficient, starting from the importance of the Mandarin duck to the old lady, the attitude and opinion of the old lady to the big old man, the behavior of the big old man in his daily life, and the reality of a large group of children and nephews in the family today. In the end, she also asked Lady Xing to persuade this old man who was old but did things "inappropriately", but, allowing Sister Feng to analyze and give suggestions so carefully, Lady Xing could not listen.
When Sister Feng saw That Lady Xing was like this, she could only choose to withdraw and retreat, and the reason why she chose to retreat was mainly based on the judgment of Lady Xing's behavior as a person. In her opinion, Lady Xing was "foolish and strong in nature, and only knew that She would forgive Jia to protect herself" and was "a slave of her children, who did not rely on one person and did not listen to a word."
As a daughter-in-law, in order not to make the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law more rigid, instead of urging her to fall well, it is better to go down the donkey and save herself. Therefore, Sister Feng asked Lady Xing to hurry up to Jia Mu and say that she would get rid of the suspicion that Lady Xing was suspicious of her complaint.
Wang Xifeng's head spun quickly, and he casually lied that Madame Xing's car was broken, and asked her to take her own car to Jia Mu's side. Lady Xing and Wang Xifeng's mother-in-law left Jia Shu and Lady Xing's courtyard and went to Jia Mu's place, and Sister Feng used the excuse that she would let Lady Xing go first, saying that if she passed, she would be asked by the old lady if it was not good, which was avoiding.
Because Lady Xing will definitely touch the nail in front of Jia Mu or Mandarin Duck, if Sister Feng, who is a daughter-in-law, is in front of her, Lady Xing must have a bad face, and if she is not good, she will be annoyed and angry, so Sister Feng chooses to avoid.
Sister Feng, who was expected to be a god, also thought that Lady Xing would definitely come to her house to discuss, so ping'er also avoided it. This shows that when dealing with difficult problems, we need to think more about it later, anticipate what may happen next, and make reasonable responses.
Sister Feng opened Ping'er, not only to maintain Lady Xing's face, afraid that her face was not good-looking, there was another reason, she was afraid that Lady Xing would pull Ping'er to persuade Mandarin Duck. Ping'er is the one who has already made a little wife, the person in jia lian and Fengjie's room, and in jia fu yatou, she has great dignity and power.
If Lady Xing asks Ping'er to persuade Mandarin Duck, Sister Feng and Ping'er cannot refuse, after all, Lady Xing is still Sister Feng's serious mother-in-law and the master of Jia Province. However, if Ping'er advises The Mandarin Duck according to her words, it will not only hurt the harmony between Sister Feng, the master servant of Ping'er and the Mandarin Duck, but it is even more difficult to ensure that the Mandarin Duck is angry and sues Jia Mu, who is angry and does not want to see Sister Feng. Therefore, it is also the best way to safeguard one's own interests.
References: "Dream of the Red Chamber Fat Collection", by Cao Xueqin, Comments on Fat Yan Zhai, Yuelu Book Club.