Qingshiqiao

The Bluestone Bridge is the site of the tragedy in which Xiao Feng, expecting to confront Duan Zhengchun, strikes A'Zhu while she is disguised as her father. Its significance lies in the gap between what Xiao Feng intends and what his blow accomplishes: a meeting arranged for a reckoning becomes the death of the woman who had tried to prevent it.

Setting and Appointment

After Ruan Xingzhu defended Duan Zhengchun, Xiao Feng reacted with anger and told him he would wait at the Bluestone Bridge at the third watch, between midnight and two in the morning, because he had something to discuss. The appointment made the bridge the chosen ground for a private confrontation.

That night Xiao Feng put on his robe and walked about five li, roughly half a kilometre, to reach the riverbank. Moonlight reflected on the water while dark clouds gathered in the western sky. Lightning periodically illuminated the surroundings, and the bridge stood near a distant graveyard. In this unsettled setting, Xiao Feng saw a man walking toward Little Mirror Lake: Duan Zhengchun, or so he believed.

The Mistaken Encounter

Xiao Feng attacked the approaching figure with a palm strike. Lightning and thunder accompanied the blow, which struck the figure in the chest and left him motionless against the bridge railing. When another flash lit the scene, Xiao Feng reached for the apparent Duan Zhengchun’s face and discovered that it was disguised. He recognized A'Zhu and called her name.

The reversal is the bridge scene’s defining turn. Xiao Feng had come to meet Duan Zhengchun, but the person who accepted the appointment was A'Zhu, wearing her father’s likeness. The same act that was meant to settle the confrontation instead made Xiao Feng responsible for a blow dealt to the woman he loved.

A'Zhu’s Explanation

A'Zhu explained that she had overheard her parents lamenting that they had abandoned her and her younger sister. She had also heard her father say that he would find her and bring her back. From that knowledge, she understood the family connection that made the confrontation especially fraught.

To avert the meeting, A'Zhu first pretended to be ill, then disguised herself as Xiao Feng and told Duan Zhengchun that the appointment was canceled and the grievance settled. She next disguised herself as Duan Zhengchun and went to the bridge in his place. Her plan rested on deception and self-sacrifice: she meant to let Xiao Feng believe the dispute had been resolved, though he did not know who stood before him. By the time she explained what she had done, her breathing had grown faint.

Aftermath and Significance

A'Zi emerged from beneath the bridge, objecting to the relationship implied by the words “elder sister” and “brother-in-law” and saying she would not go. Her appearance brought the sisters’ relationship into the scene, but did not undo what had happened. The encounter ended with Xiao Feng standing on the bridge, overwhelmed by grief and remorse.

He struck the stone railing repeatedly, breaking away a section that fell into the river. He could not weep, while a flash of lightning showed A'Zhu’s lingering expression of love and concern. The bridge therefore holds two irreconcilable outcomes: A'Zhu’s attempt to protect the people she loved succeeds in canceling the planned appointment, but her disguise causes Xiao Feng to mistake her for the person he meant to confront. The location’s role is not merely as a meeting point; it is where concealed identity and divided family loyalties converge in an irreversible loss.