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 for killing his sister-in-law and her illicit lover Ximen Qing to avenge their murder of his brother Wu Dalang. Wu is told that the prison authorities would give newly arrived exiles 100 beatings with the staff to strike fear in them. But the beatings could be waived with bribes. When Wu is brought before the superintendent, he swears he would never stoop to the extortion. Shi En, who is the son of the superintendent and is at the scene, whispers to his father telling him to let Wu off with the excuse that he is ill.

Shi En arranges for Wu Song to be put in a clean cell and served with good food and drink. Wu suspects all this is a run-up to murdering him in prison. But as the good treatment goes on for days he forces a jailer to reveal the reason. Shi En thus comes to meet Wu, who is told he is well-treated in view of his heroic fame and mighty strength. However, Shi En in fact has a favour to ask from Wu. He used to run a restaurant at a busy crossroads called "Happy Forest" (快活林), which is a facade for collecting protection fees from businesses and tolls from passing travellers. One day Jiang Zhong, a thug nicknamed "Jiang the Door God", came, beat him up and took over the restaurant and thus the control of Happy Forest. Shi En hopes Wu Song could help him take back the place and his money-making operation.

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 to the restaurant, he is very drunk. There 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. Inspector Zhang pretends to be an admirer of Wu Song for his heroic feats and invites him to stay in his house. He then frames Wu Song for theft and sends him to prison with a plot to kill him there. Shi En bribes the prison warden to thwart the murder. Meanwhile, Jiang has beaten up Shi and re-takes Happy Forest.

Wu Song is exiled once again to another prison camp. Jiang Zhong and the two Zhangs bribe his two escorts to kill him on the way with the help of two of Jiang's students. Shi En warns Wu Song of the danger when sending him off. Coming to the bridge over a river, Wu overpowers and kills the four men. He returns to the house of Inspector Zhang, where he goes on a bloody rampage, massacring the official's family. He also slays Zhang himself, Jiang Zhong and Instructor Zhang, who are drinking in celebration of his certain death. Disguised as an itinerant priest with the help of the couple Zhang Qing and Sun Erniang to hide his identity, Wu Song travels to join the outlaw stronghold at Mount Twin Dragons (二龍山) under Lu Zhishen. As Shi En is implicated in Wu Song's case, he also flees Mengzhou and subsequently joins Mount Twin Dragons.

After his defeat by the bandits of Liangshan Marsh, the imperial general Huyan Zhuo flees to Qingzhou (in present-day Shandong) in hope of redeeming himself by wiping out the bandits there. One of the strongholds is Mount Twin Dragons, which, finding Huyan a tough opponent, requests help from Liangshan. Song Jiang, Liangshan's then second-in-command, comes to Qingzhou with a force and captures Huyan. The bandits of Mount Twin Dragons, including Shi En, are absorbed into Liangshan.

Shi En is appointed as one of the leaders of the Liangshan infantry after the 108 Stars of Destiny came together in what is called the Grand Assembly. He participates in the campaigns against the Liao invaders and rebel forces in Song territory following amnesty from Emperor Huizong for Liangshan.

In the assault on Kunshan by waterway in the campaign against Fang La, Shi En, led by the Ruan brothers, drowns after falling into the river as he could not swim.

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