賈寶玉一直覺得，迎春不像這個世界上的人，她太安靜了。
大觀園裡那麼多姐妹，有人愛說笑，有人愛吟詩，有人愛爭強鬥勝，有人愛熱鬧玩耍，唯獨迎春，總是靜靜坐在角落裡。別人說話，她聽著；別人爭執，她低頭不語；別人無論是哭還是笑，她都無動於衷，只是淡淡一笑，好像世事都與她無關。
連丫鬟們都說她是「二木頭」，只有寶玉知道，她不是沒有感覺的木頭，她只是從小便學會了，忍。
她是賈寶玉大伯賈赦的女兒，在賈府那樣的人家裡，應該也是地位高高在上的嫡孫輩， 和寶玉有同等尊貴的地位。 可是為什麼這樣的尊貴大小姐， 偏偏生了一副最軟弱的性子？
她不會與父親爭執，即使不同意， 也總是逆來順受。 他也不敢違逆長輩，遇事只知道退讓。甚至她房裡的丫鬟婆子們， 偷她東西，她也不管；乳母媳婦欺負到她頭上，她也不爭。
探春曾經氣得罵她：「姑娘也太老實了。」可迎春只是低著頭，小聲說一句：「由他們去吧。」賈寶玉一直覺得，迎春不像這個世界上的人，她太安靜了。
大觀園裡那麼多姐妹，有人愛說笑，有人愛吟詩，有人愛爭強鬥勝，有人愛熱鬧玩耍，唯獨迎春，總是靜靜坐在角落裡。別人說話，她聽著；別人爭執，她低頭不語；別人無論是哭還是笑，她都無動於衷，只是淡淡一笑，好像世事都與她無關。
連丫鬟們都說她是「二木頭」，只有寶玉知道，她不是沒有感覺的木頭，她只是從小便學會了，忍。
她是賈寶玉大伯賈赦的女兒，在賈府那樣的人家裡，應該也是地位高高在上的嫡孫輩， 和寶玉有同等尊貴的地位。 可是為什麼這樣的尊貴大小姐， 偏偏生了一副最軟弱的性子？
她不會與父親爭執，即使不同意， 也總是逆來順受。 他也不敢違逆長輩，遇事只知道退讓。甚至她房裡的丫鬟婆子們， 偷她東西，她也不管；乳母媳婦欺負到她頭上，她也不爭。
探春曾經氣得罵她：「姑娘也太老實了。」可迎春只是低著頭，小聲說一句：「由他們去吧。」
這一切的原因，還得從迎春的身世講起， 迎春雖然是賈府長子賈赦的親生女兒， 但不是元配邢夫人所生， 而是賈赦的一個小妾所生， 而且母親早死， 從小就沒有母愛， 而名義上的母親邢夫人， 對她毫無感情， 漠不關心。
雖然表面上，她也是賈府的嫡孫輩， 但是在封建宗法制度下，「正庶之分」決定了命運。
她的嫡母邢夫人秉性愚懦、只是愛錢如命，對迎春毫無母愛。紅樓夢原著第七十三回中，邢夫人甚至當面數落迎春，抱怨她不是自己親生的，還拿她與探春相比，羞辱她， 同樣是庶出，為什麼探春就不像她， 人家有才幹、得人心 ？
這一切， 導致了迎春，雖然名義上也是賈府的嫡孫輩， 尊貴的大小姐，但是卻養成了懦弱， 逆來順受， 不敢與人爭的性格。
寶玉有時看著她，心裡會莫名難受。因為他知道，這樣的人，在這個世上，肯定是活不長久的。
迎春其實長得很好看。她不像黛玉那樣帶著病氣，也不像寶釵那樣端莊富貴，她有一種淡淡的美，像春天在冬雪還沒融化時， 就開放的蒲公英，不驚人，卻讓人驚艷，不忍觸碰。
只是她太懦弱，太沒有聲音了，彷彿從小就知道，自己在這個家裡，並不重要。
賈母雖然疼孫女，可終究隔了一層。王夫人忙著照看寶玉與寶釵。邢夫人又是繼母，對她從不上心。至於她的親生父親賈赦，更是荒唐無情，只知道飲酒作樂，買小妾， 荒淫無度，根本不把這個庶出女兒放在心上。
所以迎春從小便活得像個沒人疼，沒人愛，沒人理的影子。
她不像同是庶出的探春那樣，敢出頭， 敢頂撞，也不像惜春那樣冷心絕情。她，只是默默忍耐，把所有委屈都咽進肚子裡。
當賈赦為迎春的婚姻大事做決定， 要把她嫁給孫紹祖時， 雖然賈家上下， 都知道孫紹祖這個人名聲不好， 卻沒有任何長輩， 無論男性， 或是女性，願意為迎春說話，反對這門親事，或為她出頭爭取更好的結果 。
作為賈府長房的賈赦，為什麼偏偏要把女兒嫁給名聲不好的孫紹祖， 這就不得不介紹一下孫紹祖的來歷， 和他與賈赦的關係 。
孫家並非像賈家、王家那樣， 是根基深厚的百年望族，而是「並非詩書墨客之族，庶民家風」。
孫家祖上曾因有求於賈府，拜在賈府門下，自稱「門生」。可以說，孫家最早，是靠著賈家的勢力才得以立足的。
孫紹祖本人是當時的軍界新貴，孫紹祖長得「相貌魁梧，體格健壯」，精通弓馬，在兵部候補。隨後，他「現選了陝西將軍」，成為了當時手握重兵、正值上升期的實權武官。
賈赦曾拿了孫紹祖五千兩銀子，從紅樓夢原著分析， 極有可能是收錢幫孫紹祖， 在朝廷替他運作官職，但是因為賈家衰落，影響力下降，事情沒辦成。 這筆錢就成為賈赦和孫紹祖的一筆糊塗債務糾紛，扯不斷， 說不清。
孫紹祖要賈赦還錢， 賈赦雖然不是沒有錢還， 但是他財迷心竅，不願意還。 手下的清客就給他出餿主意， 把迎春嫁給孫紹祖， 雙方成為翁婿關係， 這筆債務也就自然抵消。自私到極點的賈赦， 毫不考慮女兒的幸福， 竟然就採取了手下清客的建議。
孫紹祖在婚後，打罵迎春時曾親口咆哮：「你老子使了我五千銀子，把你准折買給我的！ ……你別和我充夫人娘子！你老子手裡著實使了我的銀子。如今沒有錢償還，方把你准折在這裡。若和我好充夫人，咱們不說別的，先還我五千銀子， …… 」
這段話表明，在孫紹祖眼裡，迎春不是妻子，而是一個用五千兩銀子買回來的、用來出氣和洩慾的物件。
孫紹祖這個人性格粗暴、好色、忘恩負義。紅樓夢原著第五回的判詞，直接點出他的本質：「子系中山狼，得志便猖狂。」
他的性格可以總結為：忘恩負義的中山狼，他完全抹殺了當年賈家對孫家的提攜之恩。當賈家衰落、他自己得勢後，非但沒有報恩，反而對賈家充滿蔑視，甚至在上門對賈赦逼債時，反咬一口， 令賈赦有口難辯。
孫紹祖荒淫好色可說是到了極點，他在家中極其淫亂，把家裡的丫頭、媳婦全「淫遍了」。當迎春稍微加以勸阻時，他便大發雷霆，甚至將迎春趕到偏房作踐。
所以他根本不把迎春視為正經八百娶回來的夫人，將迎春視為「買來的商品」，孫紹祖之所以對迎春如此殘暴，核心在於他根本不認為這是一場平等的貴族聯姻。
可是賈赦明明知道這些， 還是把迎春嫁了過去。原因除了解決和孫紹祖那筆無法說清楚的五千兩銀子糾紛， 還有他另外的陰暗小心思。 希望藉此結交朝廷軍界新貴， 為自己以後再起，創造條件。
因為他雖然世襲了家族的一等將軍爵位， 但那是個空頭銜， 和手握兵權的當朝新貴， 無法相比。
因此這場婚事，根本不是嫁女兒，而是賈赦賣女兒還債， 同時為自己將來東山再起創造條件。
迎春出嫁那天，賈府依舊張燈結綵，吹吹打打，表面上熱熱鬧鬧。可寶玉站在人群裡，看著迎春那張安靜， 蒼白的臉，心裡卻一陣發冷。
他總覺得，這不像出嫁，倒像是出殯，送葬。
後來探春也曾偷偷罵過：「大老爺竟是賣女兒。」可罵也沒用。迎春自己更是一句話都沒有。她還是那樣，低著頭，輕輕柔柔地說：「父母之命，自然如此。」寶玉聽了，只覺得心裡發堵。
他一直不明白，為什麼這世上的女孩子，明明那樣好，卻偏偏總要被人當東西一樣，送來送去。
迎春嫁過去沒多久，惡夢便開始了。
孫紹祖原本就不是憐香惜玉的人，後來見賈府漸漸失勢，更加不把迎春放在眼裡。他喝醉了便打，心情不好也打，甚至當著下人的面羞辱迎春，把她當奴才一樣作踐。
迎春原本就膽小懦弱，被打也不敢反抗，只會偷偷流淚。
有一次她回門，姐妹們見她時，全都嚇了一跳。才不過幾個月，她已經瘦得不像樣子，臉色灰白，說話都有氣無力。探春忍不住落淚，惜春也低著頭不說話。只有迎春還勉強笑著，輕聲說：「也還好。」
可是誰都看得出，她過得一點都不好。
後來她私下對司棋哭過，說孫紹祖喝醉後，常常整夜辱罵毆打她。她說著說著，眼淚便掉了下來，可最後還是只說一句：「忍忍也就過去了。」
她一輩子都在忍。
忍乳母欺負，忍下人偷東西，忍父親冷漠，忍丈夫毒打。她從來不敢爭，也從來不敢恨。
可這世上，有些事情，是忍不過去的。嫁到孫家不到一年，迎春便病倒了。
據後來從孫家回來的下人說，她死前已經病得很重，喉嚨裡痰堵得說不出話，整日躺在床上喘氣。可是孫紹祖根本不管，也不肯請好大夫，只嫌她麻煩。
她就那樣，一天天熬著。最後，就真的熬死了。她死時，才二十歲。
賈府收到消息時，眾人都沉默了。因為大家其實早就知道，她會有這一天。只是沒有人想到，會來得這麼快。
寶玉聽見迎春死訊時，呆了很久，一句話都說不出來。
後來他忽然想起，迎春小時候最愛下棋。她總是一個人安安靜靜坐著，把棋子擺來擺去。那時候寶玉還笑她：「二姐姐，你這棋下得也太慢了。」迎春只是低頭一笑，也不生氣。
如今再想，那樣安靜的一個好人，也被這世界活活逼死了。寶玉那天夜裡，一個人坐了很久。他忽然感覺，大觀園裡那些好女孩，一個個都會消失。
秦可卿死了，金釧兒死了，尤三姐死了，尤二姐死了，晴雯死了，如今連迎春也死了。
而且她們幾乎都不是病死的，她們是被這個世界，一點一點逼死的。
寶玉忽然覺得害怕，因為他第一次真正明白，這座看起來花團錦簇的賈府，其實根本不是什麼富貴溫柔鄉，而是一座會吃人的墳墓。
（未完待續）Jia Baoyu had always felt that Yingchun did not quite belong to this world. She was far too quiet.
Among all the sisters in the Grand View Garden, some loved to laugh and talk, some loved to compose poetry, some loved to compete and prove themselves, and some loved noise and play. Only Yingchun was always sitting quietly in a corner. When others spoke, she listened. When others argued, she lowered her head and said nothing. Whether people around her were crying or laughing, she remained unmoved, only giving a faint smile, as though the affairs of the world had nothing to do with her.
Even the maids called her “Second Blockhead.” Only Baoyu knew that she was not a block of wood without feeling. She had simply learned, from childhood, to endure.
She was the daughter of Jia She, Baoyu’s eldest uncle. In a family like the Jia household, she should also have been one of the honored grandchildren of the main line, possessing a status as noble as Baoyu’s own. Yet why had such a noble young lady been born with such a weak and yielding nature?
She never argued with her father. Even when she disagreed, she always submitted and accepted whatever came. She did not dare disobey her elders. Whenever trouble arose, she only knew how to retreat. Even when the maids and old women in her own rooms stole from her, she did nothing. Even when her wet nurse’s daughter-in-law bullied her openly, she did not fight back.Jia Baoyu had always felt that Yingchun did not quite belong to this world. She was far too quiet.
Among all the sisters in the Grand View Garden, some loved to laugh and talk, some loved to compose poetry, some loved to compete and prove themselves, and some loved noise and play. Only Yingchun was always sitting quietly in a corner. When others spoke, she listened. When others argued, she lowered her head and said nothing. Whether people around her were crying or laughing, she remained unmoved, only giving a faint smile, as though the affairs of the world had nothing to do with her.
Even the maids called her “Second Blockhead.” Only Baoyu knew that she was not a block of wood without feeling. She had simply learned, from childhood, to endure.
She was the daughter of Jia She, Baoyu’s eldest uncle. In a family like the Jia household, she should also have been one of the honored grandchildren of the main line, possessing a status as noble as Baoyu’s own. Yet why had such a noble young lady been born with such a weak and yielding nature?
She never argued with her father. Even when she disagreed, she always submitted and accepted whatever came. She did not dare disobey her elders. Whenever trouble arose, she only knew how to retreat. Even when the maids and old women in her own rooms stole from her, she did nothing. Even when her wet nurse’s daughter-in-law bullied her openly, she did not fight back.
Tanchun once became so angry that she scolded her: “You are far too honest.” But Yingchun only lowered her head and softly said, “Let them be.”
The reason for all this must be traced back to Yingchun’s birth. Although Yingchun was the biological daughter of Jia She, the eldest son of the Jia family, she was not born to his principal wife, Lady Xing. She was born to one of Jia She’s concubines. Her mother died early, so she grew up without maternal love. And Lady Xing, her nominal mother, felt no affection for her at all and remained utterly indifferent to her.
On the surface, Yingchun was also one of the legitimate grandchildren of the Jia family. But under the feudal clan system, the distinction between legitimate and concubine-born children determined a person’s fate.
Her legal mother, Lady Xing, was foolish, weak, and obsessed with money. She had no motherly love for Yingchun whatsoever. In Chapter Seventy-Three of Dream of the Red Chamber, Lady Xing even scolds Yingchun to her face, complaining that Yingchun was not born from her own body. She compares her with Tanchun and humiliates her, saying that although both were born of concubines, why was Tanchun not like her? Tanchun had ability and won people’s respect.
All of this caused Yingchun, though nominally one of the honored granddaughters of the Jia family and a noble young lady, to develop a weak, submissive nature, always accepting humiliation and never daring to compete with others.
Sometimes Baoyu looked at her and felt an inexplicable sadness. Because he knew that someone like her could not possibly live long in this world.
Yingchun was actually very beautiful. She did not carry Daiyu’s sickly fragility, nor did she possess Baochai’s dignified richness. Hers was a quiet beauty, like a dandelion blooming in early spring before the winter snow had fully melted—not startling at first glance, yet somehow astonishing, and too delicate to touch.
But she was too weak, too voiceless, as though she had known from childhood that in this family, she did not matter.
Grandmother Jia loved her granddaughters, but there was still a distance between them. Lady Wang was busy caring about Baoyu and Baochai. Lady Xing was her stepmother and never paid real attention to her. As for her own father, Jia She, he was absurd, heartless, and debauched, caring only for drinking, pleasure, and buying concubines. He never truly kept this concubine-born daughter in his heart.
So from childhood, Yingchun lived like a shadow that no one loved, no one cherished, and no one noticed.
She was not like Tanchun, who, though also born of a concubine, dared to step forward and speak back. Nor was she like Xichun, cold-hearted and detached. Yingchun simply endured in silence, swallowing all her grievances into her own heart.
When Jia She decided upon Yingchun's marriage and arranged for her to wed Sun Shaozu, everyone in the Jia household knew that Sun Shaozu had a terrible reputation. Yet not a single elder，whether man or woman—was willing to speak for Yingchun, oppose the marriage, or fight for a better future on her behalf.
Why, then, did Jia She, the head of the Jia family's senior branch, insist on marrying his daughter to a man of such ill repute? To understand that, one must first know who Sun Shaozu was and what relationship existed between him and Jia She.
Unlike the Jia and Wang families, the Sun family was not an old aristocratic clan with generations of scholarly distinction. It was, as Dream of the Red Chamber describes it, "not a family of scholars and men of letters, but one of ordinary commoners."
In earlier years, the Sun family had depended upon the Jia family for support. They had attached themselves to the Jia household as so-called "disciples." In other words, the Sun family's rise had originally been made possible through the influence and protection of the Jia family.
Sun Shaozu himself was one of the rising military figures of his day. He was described as powerfully built and physically imposing, skilled in both horsemanship and archery. After serving as a candidate official in the Ministry of War, he was appointed General of Shaanxi, becoming a military commander with real authority and a highly promising future.
At one time, Jia She accepted five thousand taels of silver from Sun Shaozu. Judging from the original novel, it is highly likely that Jia She had taken the money in exchange for using his influence at court to help secure Sun Shaozu's official promotion. But by then the Jia family's political influence had already begun to decline, and the matter was never successfully arranged.
As a result, the money became a tangled debt between Jia She and Sun Shaozu， a debt that neither side could clearly settle nor easily forget.
Sun Shaozu demanded repayment.
Jia She was not incapable of returning the money. He simply did not want to. Greedy to the core, he was unwilling to part with it. One of his advisers then offered him a disgraceful suggestion: marry Yingchun to Sun Shaozu. Once they became father-in-law and son-in-law, the debt could conveniently disappear.
Jia She, selfish beyond measure, never gave a moment's thought to his daughter's happiness. Instead, he accepted the proposal without hesitation.
After the marriage, Sun Shaozu himself once roared at Yingchun:
"Your father took five thousand taels of my silver and used you as payment! Don't pretend to be some noble lady before me! Your father truly spent my money. Now that he cannot repay it, he handed you over instead. If you want me to treat you like a proper wife, then return my five thousand taels first!"
Those words reveal everything.
In Sun Shaozu's eyes, Yingchun was never his wife.
She was merely something purchased for five thousand taels of silver，a possession through which he could vent his anger and satisfy his desires.
Sun Shaozu was violent, lustful, and utterly ungrateful. The prophetic verse in Chapter Five of Dream of the Red Chamber captures his nature in a single line:
"The wolf of Zhongshan, once he gains power, becomes savage."
His character can indeed be summed up in those words.
Like the ungrateful wolf of Zhongshan, he completely erased the kindness that the Jia family had once shown his own family. Once the Jia family declined and he himself rose to power, he not only failed to repay their generosity, but came to despise them. When he later appeared at the Jia Mansion demanding repayment of the debt, he even turned the blame back upon Jia She, leaving Jia She unable to defend himself.
Sun Shaozu's lust knew no limits. According to the novel, he had already violated virtually every maid and servant woman in his household. Whenever Yingchun tried, however gently, to dissuade him, he flew into a rage, even banishing her to a side room where she suffered continual humiliation.
He never regarded Yingchun as the lawful wife he had properly married.
To him, she was nothing more than merchandise that he had bought.
The true reason for Sun Shaozu's cruelty was simple: he never believed this marriage to be an equal union between two noble families.
Yet Jia She knew all of this, and still he married Yingchun off to Sun Shaozu.
His reasons went beyond settling the tangled dispute over the five thousand taels of silver. Hidden in his heart was another, darker calculation. By sacrificing his daughter, he hoped to forge a connection with one of the rising military figures at court and create an opportunity for his own future advancement.
Although Jia She had inherited the hereditary title of First-Class General, it was little more than an empty honor. It could not compare with the real military power that Sun Shaozu now commanded.
Thus, this marriage was never truly about marrying off a daughter.
It was Jia She selling his daughter to repay a debt，and at the same time using her as a stepping stone for his own political ambitions.
On the day Yingchun was married, the Jia Mansion was once again filled with lanterns, music, and celebration. Everything appeared lively and festive.
Yet as Baoyu stood among the crowd, looking at Yingchun's quiet, pale face, an icy chill crept into his heart.
To him, it did not look like a wedding.
It looked like a funeral procession.
Later, even Tanchun secretly cursed,
"The Old Master has sold his own daughter." But her anger changed nothing.
Yingchun herself said almost nothing.As always, she lowered her head and gently murmured,
"A daughter's fate is to obey her parents' command."
Hearing those words, Baoyu felt as though something heavy were pressing against his chest.
He could never understand why girls who were so kind and gentle were so often treated like possessions, handed from one person to another.
Not long after Yingchun entered the Sun household, the nightmare began.
Sun Shaozu had never been a man who cherished women. As the Jia family declined further, he respected Yingchun even less.
When he was drunk, he beat her.
When he was in a bad mood, he beat her.
Sometimes he humiliated her before the servants, treating her no better than a household slave.
Yingchun had always been timid and submissive.Even when she was beaten, she never dared fight back.She only wept in secret.
Once, when she returned to visit her family, all her sisters were shocked.
Only a few months had passed, yet she had grown painfully thin. Her face was pale and lifeless, and even speaking seemed to exhaust her.
Tanchun could not hold back her tears. Xichun lowered her head in silence.
Only Yingchun still forced herself to smile and softly said："I'm managing... it's not so bad."
But everyone could see that nothing was well.
Later, she privately wept before Siqi. She confessed that whenever Sun Shaozu became drunk, he would spend entire nights cursing and beating her.
As she spoke, tears streamed down her face. Yet in the end, she said only one sentence:
"If I endure it... eventually it will pass." She spent her entire life enduring.
She endured the bullying of her wet nurse.
She endured servants stealing from her.
She endured her father's indifference.
She endured her husband's brutality.
She never dared to fight. She never even dared to hate.
But there are some things in this world that cannot be endured forever.
Less than a year after entering the Sun household, Yingchun fell gravely ill.
According to servants who later returned from the Sun residence, she was already critically sick before her death. Her throat was clogged with phlegm, leaving her unable to speak. Day after day she lay in bed, struggling for every breath.
Yet Sun Shaozu paid her no attention. He would not even hire a competent physician. He regarded her only as a nuisance.
So she endured，Day after day. Until, at last, she endured herself to death.
She was only twenty years old.
When news of Yingchun's death reached the Jia Mansion, everyone fell silent.
For deep down, they had always known that this day would come.What none of them expected was that it would come so soon.
When Baoyu heard that Yingchun had died, he stood there in stunned silence for a long time, unable to utter a single word.
Then, quite suddenly, he remembered how much Yingchun had loved playing chess when she was young.
She would always sit quietly by herself, arranging and rearranging the chess pieces with endless patience.
Back then, Baoyu would laugh and tease her, "Second Sister, you play chess far too slowly."
Yingchun would simply lower her head, smile softly, and never take offense.
Now, looking back, Baoyu realized that even someone as gentle and quiet as Yingchun had been driven to death by this world.
That night, he sat alone for a very long time.
A terrible thought came over him.
One by one, all the good girls of the Grand View Garden would disappear.
Qin Keqing was gone.
Jinchuan was gone.
You Sanjie was gone.
You Erjie was gone.
Qingwen was gone.
And now, Yingchun was gone as well.
And almost none of them had died a natural death. They had been driven to death， little by little，by this world itself.
For the first time, Baoyu felt genuine fear.
He finally understood that the Jia Mansion, which appeared so prosperous, so elegant, and so full of flowers and beauty, was never a paradise of wealth and gentleness.
It was, in truth, a magnificent tomb， that quietly devoured the living.
(To be continued)
