Cai Fu
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Cai Fu (蔡福) is a character in the Water Margin.
Cai Fu was from Beijing and served as an executioner in the prison. Due to his excellent skills in carrying out executions by beheading, he was nicknamed 'Iron arm' (铁臂膊). He shares the same nickname as the fictionalized persona of Zhou Tong, the archery teacher of Song Dynasty General Yue Fei.
Once, Lu Junyi was betrayed by his adulterous wife and housekeeper Li Gu, and was thrown into prison. Li Gu then bribed Cai Fu to finish off Lu Junyi, but Chai Jin also appeared and bribed Cai Fu to take good care of Lu Junyi with an even much higher sum of money. After Cai Fu had discussed with his brother Cai Qing, they decided to help Lu Junyi. Thus, Lu Junyi's life was spared, and he was sentenced to exile in Shamen Island.
On the way, the guards escorting Lu Junyi there had been bribed to finish him along the way, but Lu Junyi's loyal servant Yan Qing killed the guards and rescued Lu Junyi. However, Lu Junyi was recaptured later on and was sentenced to be executed, with Cai Fu being the executioner. Just as the execution was about to take place, Shi Xiu stormed the execution ground in an attempt to rescue Lu Junyi. Cai Fu had initially wanted to spare Lu Junyi, so he had deliberately lagged for some time earlier before the execution. However, Lu Junyi and Shi Xiu were not familiar with the roads and were captured once again. Grand Secretary Liang was fearful that the Liangshan heroes might come for Lu Junyi so he decided to use Lu and Shi Xiu as hostages, so he asked the Cai brothers to guard them well. The Cai brothers treated the prisoners well.
Song Jiang sent some men to infiltrate Damingfu during the lantern festival. Chai Jin went to find the Cai brothers and persuaded them to open the prison gates, allowing Lu Junyi and Shi Xiu to escape. At the same time, the Liangshan troops stationed outside Damingfu launched an offensive, and succeeded in taking over Damingfu, creating great confusion and chaos inside the city. The Cai brothers requested Chai Jin not to harm the civilians, and Chai went to find Wu Yong, who issued an order not to harm the local civilians. Lu Junyi and Shi Xiu were rescued and the Cai brothers followed the heroes back to Liangshan to join the band.
Cai Fu became in charge of executing criminals in Liangshan. After the heroes had obtained amnesty from the emperor, Cai Fu followed them on their campaigns against the Liao Tartars and southern rebels. During the Fang La campaign, Cai Fu was critically wounded in the battle of Qingxi Prefecture and eventually died of his wounds after the battle.
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