This sequel picks up after the first eighty chapters of Dream of the Red Chamber, centering on “sorrow hidden in a declining age, and an illusory dream returning to nothing.” It follows the Jia family’s complete downfall, from being “a centipede that keeps twitching even after it dies” to ruin beyond recovery: Yingchun is abused and beaten to death after marrying into the Sun family; Daiyu weeps herself dry in the Xiaoxiang Pavilion; after enduring the family’s confiscation and the pain of losing loved ones, Baoyu sees through the mortal world. Wang Xifeng’s corruption is exposed, she is abandoned by everyone, and her spirit ultimately returns to Jinling. Tanchun is married off to a distant coastal land and cannot return; Xichun retreats into religious life. Though Baochai marries Baoyu, she is left a widow in all but name. After Qiaojie is sold, Granny Liu rescues her and she returns to a life in the countryside. Using the poems and songs that foretell each character’s fate as its anchor, the novel recaptures the original’s tragic core. It portrays both the systemic collapse of a feudal family and individuals struggling and seeking release in a dying age. It concludes with Baoyu letting go at the edge of a cliff and the ruins of the Jia estate reflecting the setting sun, echoing the opening lines: “Pages full of nonsense, a single tear of bitterness.”
