Corrupt official in the Red Chamber

Chapter 71
Many readers thought that Qin Keqing died soon after getting sick. In fact, they were deceived by Cao Xueqin.

Qin Keqing did not die in winter, nor in the twelfth lunar month.

If Qin Keqing had died while she was seriously ill, when the news of her death was heard in Rongguo Mansion, there would not have been the strange phenomenon of "everyone in the family knew about it, and everyone was surprised and a little suspicious."

What's more, Qin Keqing was seriously ill at that time and had difficulty getting out of bed, and there were always maids and women around to take care of her. How could he go to Tianxiang Tower to have an affair with Jia Zhen, and how could he hang himself in Tianxiang Tower?
If you want to decipher the date of Qin Keqing's death, you can't just focus on the part where Qin Keqing died-because the author has made a lot of deletions and revisions here, it is difficult to see the true nature of the matter.

Please look at the text farther away from this paragraph - a passage said by Xiren during Jia Jing's funeral.Because the author did not delete and modify it here, it is more credible:
Attacker said: "I see that the fan cover you brought was made by Grandma Rong in Dongfu that year. You can only wear that green thing when there is a funeral in the summer at the family or relatives and friends' house. You can bring one or two every year. Suffered, usually do not commit crimes."

This passage is enough to prove that Qin Keqing died in summer.It was precisely because Qin Keqing died in the summer that Baoyu needed to go there often, so he made a blue fan cover.

This is also consistent with the description of Lin Ruhai's death during Qin Keqing's funeral (the third day of September) - Qin Keqing stayed in mourning for 49 days and received the news of Lin Ruhai's death when the "death day was approaching".

After Qin Keqing's death, on the fifth day of "May [-]th", Jia Lian sent Zhao'er back to report the funeral, and Lin Ruhai died.

Five-seven is five, which means that seven days after a person's death is one "seven", and the five-seventh day is an important memorial day.That is, No. 20 nine days after Qin Keqing's death.

It should take about a month to travel from Yangzhou to the capital by water and canal.After Lin Ruhai died, it was impossible for Jia Lian to send Zhao'er back immediately.It must be that Yangzhou had almost cleaned up, and then sent Zhao'er back to report the funeral, while he and Lin Daiyu helped the coffin back to Suzhou.

Based on this calculation, the time of Lin Ruhai's death and Qin Keqing's death should overlap.Qin Keqing seems to have passed away a few years later, but in fact Lin Ruhai's death gave a jaw-dropping exact time!

(No. 14) Zhao'er said: "The second master sent me back. Aunt Lin disappeared on the third day of September. The second master took Miss Lin and sent the spirit of Aunt Lin to Suzhou, and he will be back around the end of the year. The second master sent the younger one to say hello and ask the old lady to show me how well grandma's house is, and told me to bring some big woolen clothes with me."

Lin Ruhai died on the third day of September, which means that Lin Daiyu, who rushed back at the end of the year, served Lin Ruhai until September of the next year before passing away.

That is to say, although Qin Keqing's illness was dangerous, after Zhang Youshi's diagnosis and medication, he finally survived the winter and gradually recovered, and gradually recovered after the vernal equinox.As this brilliant doctor put it:

The gentleman smiled and said: "Uncle is the most brilliant person. It is not an overnight symptom for a person to be sick to this position. After taking this medicine, it depends on the doctor's fate. In my opinion, this year's winter is irrelevant. It is always over After the vernal equinox, it is hoped that all will be healed."

In this way, Qin Keqing did not die of illness later that year. Not only did she survive the spring, her illness recovered, but she did not die suddenly until September of the next year.In this way, it is clear that everyone in the Jia family is "all curious and a little suspicious."There is an inside story about Qin Keqing’s death!

(End of this chapter)