JUNIPER GIRL

Scanned from Gaho Fuzoku Kitan, 1961

"Why would you let a jewel like her be buried in the dust?"

Hmmm yes. She totally should have just died in the nunnery, so this poor struggling scholar (such struggles, so oppressed) wouldn't have to face the fact that he's responsible for ruining the life of a perfectly lovely young woman. Though of course, it's not HIS fault, really. Again, if she'd just died like she was supposed to after being so disgraced, he wouldn't have to think about her now, and she wouldn't be living such a hard life as a "jewel buried in dust."

Like. Oh my goooood. You can tell she wasn't a real person to him before now, just an obstacle to get rid of because the idea of marrying the person his mother wanted him to marry offended him so much. And there's clearly also some element of entitlement/envy/insecurity here, in that he's offended by the idea of someone who was considered of a status to marry him (and who he rejected) is now building a life with a man who he thinks should be nothing. And they care about each other! (Remember that time Tingyuan walked right past him to greet his mom?)