Duan Zhengchun and Qin Hongmian

Duan Zhengchun and Qin Hongmian are former lovers whose connection links a far-ranging romantic past to the divided lives of their daughters. Though they have spent long periods apart, Qin Hongmian’s anger at his other relationships coexists with a wish to see him again; their story is shaped less by reunion than by the feelings and family obligations that persist in its absence.

Identity and Background

Duan Zhengchun is a prince of Dali, later described as its Crown Brother, who traveled in the Central Plains in his youth and formed relationships with several women. Qin Hongmian, known as Sura Saber, is one of those former lovers. Their daughter is Mu Wanqing. Qin’s place in Duan Zhengchun’s life is therefore both intimate and familial, but the relationship exists alongside his marriage to Dao Baifeng and his other attachments, including Ruan Xingzhu.

Duan Zhengchun’s political position helps explain why his private affairs sit within a much wider network of obligations. Madam Ma identifies him as the younger full brother of Dali’s emperor and says his interests could extend to the survival of Dali itself. In her account, his earlier journey to Yanmen Pass with Central Plains martial artists was publicly undertaken in the service of Great Song, but also served Dali’s security. This portrait of a powerful and benevolent prince stands in contrast with the personal cost of his repeated romantic entanglements.

A Relationship Among Many Attachments

Qin Hongmian does not blame Duan Zhengchun for having affairs everywhere; she directs her hostility toward the other women, whom she regards as rivals who have taken her beloved away. After receiving word from her fellow disciple Gan Baobao, she and Mu Wanqing set out to attack Dao Baifeng and another of Duan Zhengchun’s lovers, but neither attempt succeeds. Learning that Ruan Xingzhu is living beside Little Mirror Lake, Qin then takes Mu there, intending to attack her as well.

The confrontation changes when Ruan Xingzhu recognizes Qin. Rather than answer her openly hostile introduction in kind, Ruan flatters her as young and beautiful and tells her that Duan Zhengchun misses her and keeps her in his thoughts. The praise and the assurance soften Qin’s anger, at least temporarily. The exchange reveals a relationship in which rivalry is real, but the women’s feelings cannot be reduced to rivalry alone: each remains bound to the absent man, and Ruan’s conciliatory manner briefly makes room for solidarity between them.

That reconciliation is expressed through shared reproach. At the lakeside, Qin says she and Ruan feel like old friends and that the hatred she had carried has lifted. She blames Kang Min for disrupting the happy days she had once shared with Duan Zhengchun and plans to find her. Ruan agrees that Kang Min deserves blame and asks Qin to strike Duan Zhengchun twice on her behalf if she sees him. She complains that he fathered daughters without caring for them, leaving her and A'Zi lonely; Qin responds by promising companionship after they have dealt with Kang Min. Their talk makes visible a common grievance: affection for Duan Zhengchun survives, but so does resentment toward the man who left the women to raise daughters without him.

Mu Wanqing and the Unfulfilled Meeting

Mu Wanqing’s presence makes Qin Hongmian’s past with Duan Zhengchun more than a private romance. When Qin and her daughter return in secret to watch Ruan’s home, Qin points out a pair of men’s shoes beneath the couch. The embroidered words on them are “Mountain” and “River”; their fresh condition and the mud on their soles tell her that Duan Zhengchun is nearby. The detail confirms what Ruan has concealed: the expected reunion is close, but the women are still separated from it by pride, caution, and competing attachments.

Qin admits that she wants to see Duan Zhengchun but does not want to meet him. She observes that they have been apart for many days and that both he and she have grown old. Mu Wanqing accepts her mother’s decision, though her reply sounds sorrowful. She too carries an unresolved attachment—to Duan Yu—and knows it cannot lead anywhere; she does not disclose the full weight of that feeling to her mother. The scene thus sets a daughter’s private longing beside her mother’s older, equally conflicted one, without suggesting that either can be resolved by the approaching encounter.

The meeting does not take place. Zhu Danchen arrives with word that Duan Zhengchun has gone north to pursue a lead concerning Murong Fu and cannot return that day. He promises, through his subordinate, that Duan Zhengchun will come back to Little Mirror Lake after handling the matter. Ruan receives the news with tears and says that his assurances of a quick return have previously left her waiting three or five years. Qin and Mu, hidden nearby, remain only watchers; the anticipated encounter is deferred once again.

Significance and Outcome

The relationship’s defining pattern is attachment without dependable presence. Qin Hongmian’s wish to see Duan Zhengchun survives her anger, while her decision to hide rather than meet him preserves the distance between them. The account does not give them a reunion or a settled resolution. Instead, it lets a pair of shoes, a cautious deception, and a message of another delay carry the story of an intimacy that continues to shape the family even when the lovers remain apart.

Their connection also illustrates how Duan Zhengchun’s dispersed romantic life creates bonds among people who might otherwise be enemies. Qin arrives intending violence against Ruan, but conversation redirects her anger toward Kang Min and brings the two women into temporary alliance. That alliance does not erase their grievances or restore the absent father to his daughters. The relationship therefore remains consequential through what it leaves unresolved: affection, rivalry, and kinship persist, while reunion and repair remain only promised.