Shi En
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Shi En (施恩) is a character in the Water Margin.
Shi En was the son of the chief jailer of the prison in Mengzhou. He stood at above 6 feet, had a fair and handsome face, along with a beard. He was nicknamed 'Golden-eyed tiger cub' (金眼彪).
Once, Wu Song was being exiled to the prison in Mengzhou. Shi En respected Wu Song as a hero and managed to persuade his father to spare Wu Song from a punishment of 100 strokes of the paddle. According to the law, every new prisoner has to endure 100 strokes of the paddle upon entering the prison. But, Shi En brought Wu Song to a clean cell and treated him with good food and wine everyday. Wu Song was grateful towards Shi En and wanted to repay Shi En for his kindness. Shi En told him that he had once owned a restaurant, but one day a hooligan named Jiang Zhong came and beat up Shi En and took over his restaurant. Wu Song promised to help Shi En get back his restaurant.
Wu Song defeated Jiang-the-doorgod after a fierce fight and warned Jiang that he would never want to see him in Mengzhou ever again. However, Jiang sought help from Governor Zhang. Zhang pretended to treat Wu Song well by allowing Wu to live with him together in his residence, but he was planning to frame him. Wu Song was arrested on a false charge of theft and thrown into prison. At the same time, Jiang-the-doorgod went back to Shi En's restaurant and beat up Shi En once again, taking over control of the restaurant once more.
Wu Song was sentenced to exile once again and this time, the guards escorting him there had been bribed to finish him off along the way. However, Wu Song suspected something amiss and he killed the guards instead. Then he went back to Mengzhou and killed the evil Jiang-the-doorgod and Governor Zhang, and then he fled. At the same time, Shi En also fled from Mengzhou with his family. After the death of his parents, Shi En went to Erlong Mountain to join Wu Song, Lu Zhishen and the other heroes there. After the battle of Qingzhou, Shi En followed the Liangshan heroes back to Liangshan to deliver justice on heaven's behalf along with the other heroes, becoming one of the 72 Earthly Fiends.
Shi En became one of the leaders of the Liangshan infantry and. After the heroes had obtained amnesty from the emperor, Shi En followed them on their campaigns against the Liao Tartars and southern rebels. During the Fang La campaign, Shi En followed the Ruan brothers on a naval assault on the enemy but he fell into the water. Not being a swimmer, Shi En eventually drowned.