Zhao Qiansun

Zhao Qiansun is a former apprentice-brother of Granny Tan and a witness to the Beggar Society’s concealed history. His secret meeting with her brings him into Qiao Feng’s search for the person known as the “leading big brother”; his refusal to disclose that person’s identity is followed by his unexplained death alongside Granny Tan, leaving the mystery—and suspicion—behind.

Identity and Background

Zhao Qiansun belongs to the circle of people connected to the Beggar Society’s old affair surrounding the “leading big brother.” He and Granny Tan had once been apprentice-brother and apprentice-sister, and their emotional attachment had endured into old age. In Weihui, Qiao Feng recognizes Zhao’s unusually discreet movements after attending Elder Xu’s memorial ceremony and follows him out of the city.

The two men’s paths intersect because Qiao Feng is trying to identify the writer of a letter to Chief Wang about Qiao Feng’s case. Many people refer to that writer as the “leading big brother,” and Qiao Feng believes Zhao and Granny Tan may know who he is. Zhao’s connection to Granny Tan thus becomes the route through which Qiao Feng tries to reach a secret guarded by several people.

Meeting with Granny Tan

Zhao enters a large wooden boat by the canal, taking care to use secluded routes and avoid notice. Qiao Feng follows from a distance and listens from the roof. Inside, Zhao asks Granny Tan, whom he calls Xiao Juan, to sing songs from their youth. Their conversation is colored by regret: Granny Tan says their younger days are past and warns that her husband, Grandpa Tan, already disapproves of Zhao’s visits. Zhao answers that the two former fellow apprentices are meeting openly to talk about old times.

Granny Tan eventually agrees to sing. Zhao presses her by stressing that they may not meet again and that he fears his life is short. The exchange establishes both his attachment to her and the quiet, private nature of their reunion. Qiao Feng, however, interprets the concealed meeting as evidence of an affair and uses it to gain leverage over them.

Confrontation and Refusal

When Qiao Feng reveals himself, Zhao and Granny Tan attack together in the cramped cabin. Qiao Feng turns their assault aside and, by the seventh exchange, strikes Zhao at the waist with a finger technique; Granny Tan is then brought down by a palm strike. He blocks both of their acupuncture points and threatens to bring people from Elder Xu’s memorial gathering to judge what he presents as misconduct.

Qiao Feng then asks who wrote the letter to Chief Wang and was called the “leading big brother.” Granny Tan hesitates, but Zhao urgently tells her not to reveal the name. He declares that he would rather die than betray the person, to whom he says he is indebted. When Qiao Feng points out that Granny Tan could lose her reputation and that Grandpa Tan could be disgraced, Zhao still insists that he would accept death; he adds that if Grandpa Tan learns of the meeting, he will kill himself before him in remorse.

Qiao Feng tries to persuade Granny Tan that speaking could spare everyone and protect both her husband’s and Zhao’s standing. She begins to give an answer, but the available account does not disclose the name. Zhao’s refusal therefore remains the scene’s defining act: even under pressure that threatens his own life and Granny Tan’s reputation, he keeps the secret.

Death and Unresolved Mystery

When Qiao Feng returned to the boat with Grandpa Tan, the scene appeared to confirm the suspicion that Zhao Qiansun and Granny Tan had been meeting in secret. The two were leaning against one another in the cabin, but both were already dead. Grandpa Tan began to strike Zhao, then realized that neither man nor woman could respond; their bodies were cold, and Granny Tan no longer breathed. The apparent intimacy was therefore no proof of an affair, but a final image that intensified the misunderstanding.

Qiao Feng was astonished: he had only blocked their acupuncture points before leaving them. Examining Zhao, he found no weapon wound or visible blood, but a large dark bruise on his chest, apparently caused by a powerful palm strike. Granny Tan bore an identical injury. Zhao’s death thus remains unexplained in the account: the fatal force was not Qiao Feng’s restraint, and the matched injuries suggest a separate attacker. Grandpa Tan blamed Qiao Feng, while Qiao Feng wondered whether the killer was an adversary who had somehow learned that Zhao and Granny Tan were aboard the boat. The secret Zhao refused to disclose—and the identity of the person responsible for the deaths—remain unresolved.

Narrative Significance

Zhao Qiansun’s thread connects the Beggar Society’s search for the “leading big brother” with a death that deepens rather than resolves the old mystery. His meeting with Granny Tan appears, at first, to offer Qiao Feng a means of forcing an answer: Zhao and Granny Tan are among the people he suspects of knowing the letter-writer’s identity. Yet the scene turns on a distinction between appearance and knowledge. Qiao Feng mistakes their private reunion for an illicit affair, while Zhao’s stated reason for protecting the unnamed man is a debt of gratitude. When the pair are found dead, their closeness in the cabin invites the same suspicion, but their matched injuries point to an unseen act of violence. Zhao’s silence preserves the secret, and his death leaves both the hidden identity and the killer beyond Qiao Feng’s reach.

Death and Unresolved Mystery

When Qiao Feng returned to the boat with Grandpa Tan, the scene appeared to confirm suspicion about the secret meeting: Zhao Qiansun and Granny Tan were leaning against one another in the cabin. But both had already died. Grandpa Tan moved to strike Zhao, then discovered that neither of them could respond; both were cold, and Granny Tan no longer breathed. Their apparent intimacy was no proof of an affair, but its finality deepened the misunderstanding surrounding them.

Qiao Feng was astonished. He had only blocked their acupuncture points before leaving them, yet Zhao and Granny Tan were dead. Examining Zhao, he found no weapon wound or blood, but a large dark bruise on his chest, apparently caused by a powerful palm strike. Granny Tan bore an identical injury. The matched wounds pointed to a separate attack, though Qiao Feng could not explain how the killer knew they were aboard the boat. Grandpa Tan accused him of the deaths, while Qiao Feng wondered whether an adversary had followed the pair’s movements.

Narrative Significance

Zhao Qiansun’s story links the Beggar Society’s search for the “leading big brother” to a death that deepens rather than resolves the old mystery. Qiao Feng believes Zhao and Granny Tan may know who wrote the letter to Chief Wang, and the confrontation gives him a chance to demand the name. Zhao refuses, saying he owes the unnamed man a debt and would rather die than betray him. Granny Tan begins to answer under pressure, but the name is not disclosed before the scene turns to their deaths.

The episode hinges on the gap between what Qiao Feng sees and what he can know. He takes the secret meeting for evidence of misconduct, and the pair’s closeness after death seems to reinforce that impression; their matching injuries instead indicate violence by an unknown hand. Zhao’s silence preserves the identity he was protecting, while the unexplained deaths leave both that secret and the killer beyond Qiao Feng’s reach.