Crimson wakes, realizing her fall was just part of a dream, and that Jia Yun had not come for her after all. She gets up to go sweep, and Bao-yu tails her, wondering if he might ask her to be his attendant. Crimson is obscured from view, and Bao-yu is called inside. At the same time, Crimson catches sight of Jia Yun watching over the gardeners nearby. She wants to go over but can’t bring herself to break the rules. Instead, she mopes in her bed, and the other maids pay her no attention.

Bao-yu and the others return drunk from a party, and Bao-yu curls up beside his mother to get some rest. Jia Huan is also in the room, as Lady Wang has asked him to do some transcriptions. Bao-yu begins to flirt with Sunset, Jia Huan’s most prized maid, and Jia Huan becomes deeply resentful. In an act of violence, he knocks his candle over onto Bao-yu’s face, causing a horrible, blistering burn. Xi-feng and Lady Wang both shout at Jia Huan’s mother Auntie Zhao for raising such a horrible child.