Shi En

The novel depicts Shi En as six chi tall, handsome, fair-skinned and sporting a goatee and a moustache. His father is the superintendent of a prison camp in Mengzhou.

Wu Song reaches Mengzhou to which he is exiled after killing his sister-in-law and her adulterer lover Ximen Qing to avenge their murder of his brother Wu Dalang. Wu is told that the prison authorities would flog newly arrived exiles 100 times with staff to strike fear in them. But the flogging could be waived with bribes to all levels of the prison including the superintendent. When brought before the superintendent because he refuses to pay up, Wu swears he would never stoop to intimidation. Shi En, who is the superintendent's son and is standing next to his father at that time, whispers to the latter telling him to let Wu off with the excuse that he is ill. Wu is thus spared the beating.

Shi En arranges for Wu Song to be put in a clean cell and served with good food and drinks. Wu suspects all this is a run-up to murdering him in prison. But as the good treatment continues for days he forces a jailer to tell the reason. Shi En is thus forced to come to meet Wu. He says he has accorded Wu good treatments because he has heard of his heroism and superhuman strength. But Shi En in fact has a favour to ask from Wu. He used to run a restaurant at a thriving place called "Happy Forest" (快活林), which actually is his station for collecting protection fees from the local businesses and tolls from passing travellers. One day Jiang Zhong, a thug nicknamed "Jiang the Door God", came, beat Shi up and took over the restaurant and hence the control of Happy Forest. Shi En hopes Wu Song could help him seize back the place and his lucrative racket.

Wu Song agrees and asks to be treated to three bowls of wine at each inn he passes on his way to Happy Forest. By the time he gets there, he is very drunk. At the disputed restaurant he provokes Jiang Zhong into a fight and beats the latter easily. He orders the thug to apologise to Shi En and leave Mengzhou for good.

Humiliated, Jiang Zhong seeks help from his relative Instructor Zhang, who is connected to one Inspector Zhang Mengfang. Inspector Zhang pretends to be an admirer of Wu Song for his heroism and invites him to stay in his house. He then frames Wu for theft and sends him to prison intending to murder him inside there. Shi En bribes the prison warden and thwarts the murder plan. Meanwhile, Jiang has beaten up Shi and re-takes Happy Forest.