noon
Dowager lady Chia and the rest in due course offered thanks and returned home , the relatives and friends came to present their congratulations , great stir and excitement prevailed during these few days in the two mansions of Ning and Jung , and every one was in high glee ; but he alone looked upon everything as if it were nothing ; taking not the least interest in anything ; and as this reason led the whole family to sneer at him , the result was that he got more and more doltish . Luckily , however , Chia Lien and Tai-yü were on their way back , and had despatched messengers , in advance , to announce the news that they would be able to reach home the following day , so that when Pao-yü heard the tidings , he was at length somewhat cheered . And when he came to institute minute inquiries , he eventually found out : `` that Chia Yü-ts ` un was also coming to the capital to have an audience with His Majesty , that it was entirely because Wang Tzu-t ` eng had repeatedly laid before the Throne memorials recommending him that he was coming on this occasion to wait in the metropolis for a vacancy which he could fill up ; that as he was a kinsman of Chia Lien 's , acknowledging the same ancestors as he did , and he stood , on the other hand , with Tai-yü , in the relationship of tutor and pupil , he was in consequence following the same road and coming as their companion ; that Lin Ju-hai had already been buried in the ancestral vault , and that every requirement had been attended to with propriety ; that Chia Lien , on this voyage to the capital , would , had he progressed by the ordinary stages , have been over a month before he could reach home , but that when he came to hear the good news about Yuan Ch ` un , he pressed on day and night to enter the capital ; and that the whole journey had been throughout , in every respect , both pleasant and propitious . '' But Pao-yü merely ascertained whether Tai-yü was all right , and did not even so much as trouble his mind with the rest of what he heard ; and he remained on the tiptoe of expectation , till noon of the morrow ; when , in point of fact , it was announced that Mr. Lien , together with Miss Lin , had made their entrance into the mansion . When they came face to face , grief and joy vied with each other ; and they could not help having a good cry for a while ; after which followed again expressions of sympathy and congratulations ; while Pao-yü pondered within himself that Tai-yü had become still more surpassingly handsome . Tai-yü had also brought along with her a good number of books , and she promptly gave orders that the sleeping rooms should be swept , and that the various nicknacks should be put in their proper places . She further produced a certain quantity of paper , pencils and other such things , and distributed them among Pao Ch ` ai , Ying Ch ` un , Pao-yü and the rest ; and Pao-yü also brought out , with extreme care , the string of Ling-ling scented beads , which had been given to him by the Prince of Pei Ching , and handed them , in his turn , to Tai-yü as a present .