Jia Baoyu's Visit to the Land of Illusion (part 4)

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Baoyu, overjoyed, forgets about Qin Shi and follows the fairy to a place with a stone archway inscribed with "The Land of Illusion" and a couplet:
"When false becomes true, true becomes false;
Where nothing exists, something appears."

Passing through the archway, they see a palace gate with the words "The Sea of Bitterness and the Sky of Love" and another couplet:
"High heavens and thick earth, lamenting the endless love through the ages;
Pitiful are the lovesick men and women, the debts of romance hard to repay."

Baoyu, pondering the meaning, thinks, "So that's how it is. But what is this ancient love? What are these romantic debts? I must understand." As he contemplates, he inadvertently invites trouble. Following the fairy, they enter the second gate, seeing various plaques and couplets, but there is no time to read them all. They only notice inscriptions like "The Office of Infatuation," "The Office of Resentment," "The Office of Mourning," and "The Office of Sorrow." Baoyu asks, "May I visit these offices?" The fairy replies, "These offices contain records of all women in the world, past and future. You, with your mortal eyes and body, are not yet ready to know." Baoyu, unwilling to give up, pleads again. The fairy finally says, "Very well, you may take a brief look."

Baoyu, overjoyed, looks up and sees a plaque inscribed with "The Office of the Ill-Fated." The couplet reads:
"Spring sorrows and autumn griefs are self-inflicted;
For whom do flowers and the moon bloom?"

Baoyu, moved, enters and sees several large cabinets sealed with labels indicating various provinces. He focuses on his own province, finding a cabinet labeled "The Twelve Beauties of Jinling." Baoyu asks, "What is 'The Twelve Beauties of Jinling'?" The fairy replies, "It is the record of the twelve most prominent women in your province, hence the main record." Baoyu says, "I've heard that Jinling is vast, how can there be only twelve women? In our household alone, there are hundreds of girls." The fairy smiles and says, "A province has many women, but only the most important are recorded. The other two cabinets contain secondary records. The rest, being ordinary, are not recorded."

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