Cai Qing

Cai Qing is a fictional character in the Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. He ranks 95th of the 108 Liangshan heroes and 59th of the 72 Earthly Fiends. He is nicknamed "Stalk of Flower".

Background

Cai Qing is from Daming (in present-day Handan). He has large eyes and thick eyebrows and likes to wear a stalk of flower in his hat, which earns him the nickname "Stalk of Flower". He has an older brother named Cai Fu, who also works as a prison warden and executioner like him.

Joining Liangshan

Lu Junyi is arrested and imprisoned after he is betrayed by his adulterous wife and housekeeper Li Gu. Li Gu bribes the Cai brothers to kill Lu Junyi in prison. However, Chai Jin meets the brothers later and he bribes them to take good care of Lu Junyi, with an even larger sum of money. Cai Qing discusses with his brother and they decide to help Lu Junyi. Lu Junyi's life is spared and he is sentenced to exile on Shamen Island instead.

Li Gu bribes the guards escorting Lu Junyi into exile to finish him off along the way, but Lu's loyal servant Yan Qing saves him from death and kills the guards. Lu Junyi is captured again later and sentenced to death, with Cai Fu as the executioner. Cai Fu deliberately lags for a while before the execution as he intends to spare Lu Junyi's life. Just then, Shi Xiu appears and he storms the execution ground alone in an attempt to rescue Lu Junyi. However, Lu Junyi and Shi Xiu are not familiar...
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