Cai Qing
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Cai Qing (蔡庆) is a character in the Water Margin.
Cai Qing was the younger brother of Cai Fu, and served as an executioner and jailer in Damingfu, Beijing with his brother. He had large eyes and thick brows, was a man of strong character, and loved to stick a flower in his hat, thus earning him the nickname 'Flower' (一枝花).
Once, Lu Junyi was betrayed by his adulterous wife and housekeeper Li Gu and thrown into prison. Li Gu tried to bribe the Cai brothers to kill Lu Junyi, but the Cai brothers accepted a larger bribe from Chai Jin and agreed to look after Lu Junyi instead of killing him. After some discussion, the Cai brothers decided to help Lu Junyi so Lu was not sentenced to death and was only sentenced to exile at Shamen Island.
On the way there, the guards escorting Lu Junyi were bribed to finish him off along the way, but Lu's loyal servant Yan Qing appeared, killed the guards and rescued him. However, Lu Junyi was arrested once again later and sentenced to be executed. Cai Fu was assigned to be the executioner but he was unwilling to kill Lu Junyi so he deliberately lagged, giving Shi Xiu time to storm the execution ground and rescue Lu Junyi. However, Shi Xiu and Lu Junyi were unfamiliar with the roads and were captured once again. This time, Grand Secretary Liang was afraid that the Liangshan outlaws might come for Lu Junyi so he decided to use his prisoners as hostages, so he asked the Cai brothers to watch over them. The Cai brothers treated the prisoners well.
The Liangshan heroes infiltrated Damingfu during the lantern festival, while Chai Jin went to find the Cai brothers and they succeeded in releasing Lu Junyi and Shi Xiu. At the same time, the Liangshan troops stationed outside Damingfu launched an offensive, and managed to break through the defenses. There was great confusion and chaos in Damingfu and the Liangshan heroes succeeded in escaping back to Liangshan, while the Cai brothers followed them back.
Cai Qing became in charge of executing criminals in Liangshan alongside his brother. After the heroes had obtained amnesty from the emperor, Cai Qing followed them on their campaigns and was one of the few lucky survivors after the campaigns, but his brother perished during the Fang La campaign. He was offered and official post for his contributions to the imperial court and he went back to Damingfu with Guan Sheng.
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