"Water Margin" has created many characters with distinctive personalities, such as the classic image of Wu Song, which is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
Jingyanggang beats the tiger, drunkenly beats Jiang Menshen and other wonderful episodes can be said to be widely spread.
Among them, the story of Wu Song killing his sister-in-law to avenge his brother Wu Dalang was regarded as a classic by later generations.
Wu Dalang's wife, Pan Jinlian, hooked up with Ximen Qing at the instigation of Wang Po, and finally killed Wu Dalang.
Later, Wu Song returned home with great interest, but what he saw was his brother's tablet.
The angry Wu Song decided to secretly investigate to avenge his brother, and after all the evidence was collected, he decisively killed Pan Jinlian and Ximen Qing.
But there are three masterminds of Wu Dalang's death, why did Wu Song let go of Wang Po?
As everyone knows, there is another deep meaning in this.
To understand why Wu Song let go of Wang Po in the end, we must first clarify what roles the three masterminds played in Wu Dalang's matter.
This needs to start with the death of Wu Dalang.
When it comes to Wu Dalang's death, we can always think of that very magical quote: Da Lang, drink the medicine.
That's right, this is the cause of Wu Dalang's death.
Wu Dalang was killed by Pan Jinlian who poured arsenic in the name of drinking medicine.
And the reason why Wu Dalang was bedridden was due to Ximenqing's kick.
That day, Wu Dalang was selling baked cakes on the street, and when he met Brother Yun coming over, the two exchanged a few words.
Brother Yun told Pan Jinlian about his fornication by the way.
was so angry that Wu Dalang's face turned green, and he grabbed Brother Yun at the moment and asked him who the adulterer was.
After going back and forth, the two discussed going **.
It is said that every time Pan Jinlian and Ximen Qing have a tryst, Wang Po will take care of it, but she didn't expect Wu Dalang to break in directly.
Wang Po wanted to report the news, but was stopped, so she had to shout: "Wu Dalang is here."
After the two people in the back room heard it, they knew that the matter was about to be revealed, and in a hurry, Pan Jinlian hurriedly got up to block the door, while Ximen Qing got under the bed.
At this time, Pan Jinlian asked Ximenqing to hurry out and leave.
So, Ximenqing climbed out from under the bed, got up and came to the door.
As soon as Wu Dalang opened the door, he wanted to grab Ximenqing, but he was caught by Ximenqing.
Wu Dalang was short, and Ximenqing's foot was in the center, and even if he fell to the ground, he couldn't afford it, so Ximenqing took the opportunity to grab the door.
Although the surrounding neighbors saw it, they didn't dare to say anything, and no one dared to provoke Ximenqing.
As a husband, he came to the ground, but his husband kicked him to the ground, and Wu Dalang's heart was bitter.
Since that day, Wu Dalang has been ill, but Pan Jinlian is not waiting by his side, and it is difficult to drink saliva.
Since then, Ximenqing has become more and more unscrupulous, and still comes to have a private meeting with Pan Jinlian every day.
After Pan Jinlian came back, Wu Dalang told her that if he died, he would definitely settle accounts with them when Wu Song came back.
He also said that as long as Pan Jinlian served him well, he would never mention this matter after he became ill, and he would not tell Wu Song.
Pan Jinlian did not respond after hearing this, but said some words to Wang Po and Ximen Qing as they were.
At this time, Wang Po had a poisonous plan.
She instigated Pan Jinlian to buy arsenic, and took the opportunity to pour it when she fed Wu Dalang to drink medicine, and even burned the bones after her death, so she had to do things clean before Wu Song came back
If you want to be vicious, it has to be Wang Po, she told Pan Jinlian that if Wu Dalang struggled after drinking arsenic, then quickly cover it with a quilt to prevent him from screaming to attract attention.
Pan Jinlian poisoned Wu Dalang according to Wang Po's instructions.
In order to make people believe that she was sad about her husband's death, Pan Jinlian cried for half a night, but anyone with a discerning eye knew that she was acting.
After Wu Dalang died, the three of them planned to cremate him as soon as possible, and destroy the corpse.
For fear of being found out, Wu Dalang did not die of illness, so Ximen Qing bribed Uncle He Jiu and asked him not to make trouble and bury him quickly.
Uncle He Jiu intuitively felt that Wu Dalang's death was not simple, and finally found that Wu Dalang's face was purple and black, and his seven orifices were bleeding, and he was poisoned.
But Uncle He Jiu accepted ten taels of silver from Ximenqing, and he didn't dare to say anything at all.
But he was afraid of Wu Song, and knew that it was a lord who was not easy to mess with, so he secretly went to Wu Dalang's cremation outside the city to steal two bones.
Wu Dalang was poisoned, the bones can be used as evidence, plus the ten taels of silver, and when Wu Song comes back, he will have an explanation.
After Wu Dalang's death, Ximen Qing and Pan Jinlian became even more rampant.
Although the neighbors saw it, they did not dare to speak out.
But within a few days, the good days of the two came to an end, because Wu Song came back.
After Wu Song came back, as soon as he opened the door, he saw a tablet on the table, which read "The position of the deceased husband Wu Dalang", and thought that he was dazzled, so he wanted to call Pan Jinlian to ask carefully.
didn't know that the two were stealing joy upstairs, and when they heard Wu Song returning, Ximen Qing ran away.
Hearing Pan Jinlian say that his brother was distressed and died, Wu Song was a little surprised, but he didn't say anything.
During the night vigil, Wu Dalang told Wu Song that he had been killed.
This made Wu Song even more puzzled.
Early the next morning, Wu Song asked Pan Jinlian in detail, how his brother died, who bought the coffin, who cremated it, and knew what happened to the ninth uncle, so he immediately came to look for him.
Seeing Wu Song coming to the door, Uncle He Jiu's heart trembled, and he immediately prepared good wine and food to entertain him.
At this time, Uncle He Jiu had already guessed Wu Song's intention, but after the two drank wine for a long time, Wu Song didn't speak, which made Uncle He Jiu very scared.
After three rounds of drinking, I saw Wu Song pick up his clothes and pull out a sharp knife from his waist and stick it on the table, and Uncle He Jiu's face turned white with fright in an instant.
Wu Song opened his mouth and threatened Uncle He Jiu to tell the truth, and if he dared to lie, he would speak with the knife in his hand.
Uncle He Jiu felt furious in his heart after listening to Wu Song's words, and looked at the knife on the table again, not daring to hide it at all.
He immediately went to take the two bones of Wu Dalang that he had prepared before, as well as the 10 taels of silver given by Ximenqing, to Wu Song, and told Wu Song about the whole thing.
Wu Song asked Uncle He Jiu who the adulterer was, but Uncle He Jiu didn't know who it was, and then he led Wu Song to Brother Yun's house.
Brother Yun told Wu Song the details of that day, and although Wu Song was annoyed, he did not attack, but calmly took Uncle He Jiu and Brother Yun to the county hall to testify to him.
However, the county official had already colluded with Ximen Qing, so Wu Song's complaint failed.
Wu Song was not discouraged, took the evidence and took the witnesses down to the court, and decided to solve it in his own way.
Wu Song's complaint failed, so he decided to use his own way.
He took two or three soldiers out of the county office, bought pens, ink, paper, and inkstones to take with him, and then returned home.
Pan Jinlian and the others already knew about Wu Song's complaint, and they also knew that he didn't succeed, so they were even more afraid.
Wu Song prepared wine and food, invited some neighbors, and found the princess next door.
Both of them had already heard Ximenqing say that Wu Song's lawsuit could not be filed, and they both thought in their hearts: See what he can do.
The neighbors, plus Wang Po and Pan Jinlian, are a total of six people.
Wu Song asked a few soldiers to close the front and back doors, and let a few people sit down to drink.
One of them, Hu Zhengqing, sat here uncomfortable, so he wanted to leave, but as soon as he stood up, he heard Wu Song say, "I can't go." ”
After drinking a total of seven glasses of wine, Wu Song asked, "Which neighbor can write?" ”
Others hurriedly replied that Hu Zhengqing wrote well, because he was an official.
Just when the neighbors were at a loss, Wu Song grabbed Wang Po and Pan Jinlian with his left and right hands respectively.
At this time, everyone looked at each other and did not dare to squeak
Wu Song turned to Pan Jinlian and asked his brother Wu Dalang how he died, but Pan Jinlian was still stiff-mouthed, saying that he died of distress.
Wu Song was not used to it, so he directly threw Pan Jinlian on the spiritual bed, picked up the knife and pointed at it, and said to Wang Po: "Old pig and dog, you tell the truth." ”
Wu Song asked Hu Zhengqing to pick up a pen and paper and record the confessions of the two sentence by sentence, Hu Zhengqing was very frightened when he saw Wu Song's posture, so he didn't dare to delay, and immediately picked up the pen.
Wang Po didn't confess, and wanted to say that this matter had nothing to do with her.
Wu Song turned to Pan Jinlian and pointed at it with a knife, so frightened that Pan Jinlian's soul was gone, so he could only move truthfully.
From the first time I met Ximenqing to the secret adultery, to the murder of Wu Dalang because of the instigation of Wang Po, everything was told truthfully.
Subsequently, Wu Song asked Hu Zhengqing to write it word for word, and then asked Wang Po to confess quickly.
Seeing that Pan Jinlian had confessed, Wang Po knew that she would not be able to recruit if she didn't recruit her, so she had to tell the truth.
After Hu Zhengqing finished writing, Wu Song asked Pan Jinlian and Wang Po to sign and draw, and also asked the rest of the neighbors to sign.
Seeing that the evidence was ready, Wu Song put the confession in his arms and asked Wang Po Pan Jinlian and the two to kneel in front of Wu Dalangling.
Wu Song said to his brother Lingpai: "Brother avenged you!" ”
The two women kneeling on the ground knew Wu Song's intentions and shouted badly.
saw Wu Song pull Pan Jinlian over, ripped off his chest and clothes, plunged a sharp knife into his chest, and then pulled out the knife to cut off his head.
Everyone was very shocked when they saw blood flowing all over the ground, but they were afraid of Wu Song and did not dare to exclaim.
Wu Song asked the soldiers to take off a quilt to wrap Pan Jinlian's head, and while washing his hands, he said that the neighbors should sit upstairs.
Wu Song instructed the soldiers to take care of Wang Po, and he went straight to Ximen Qing.
After asking the supervisor of Ximenqing's subordinates, Wu Song knew that he went to the restaurant under the Lion Bridge, so he went directly to find it and came to kill Ximenqing.
That Ximen Qing** was Wu Song's opponent and was cut off by Wu Song.
When he returned home, he put the two heads together and put them in front of the spirit to pay tribute to Wu Dalang.
Wu Song killed Pan Jinlian and Ximen Qing, the adulterers and adulteresses, but only left Wang Po, an insidious woman.
Everything before and after was instigated by her, which is simply hateful.
But Wu Song left her life, took the princess and two heads, and came to the official mansion with her testimony.
After the magistrate was promoted to the court, he saw Wu Song kneeling majestically under the hall, holding a human head in his hand, and a group of witnesses kneeling beside him.
Wu Song told the magistrate about the matter as it was, how to kill the two of them, plus the testimony of Uncle He Jiu, Brother Yun, and the neighbors, and handed over the testimony written down by Hu Zhengqing in his hand.
At this point, things are already very clear.
According to the law, this kind of thing must be convicted by the government, and Wu Song's killing of Ximenqing and Pan Jinlian was an abuse of lynching, which was not tolerated by the law.
But Wu Song handled the matter in an orderly manner, and there were all the witnesses and testimony that should have been, although Wu Song's actions did not conform to the law, they were reasonable.
In the end, Wu Song was sentenced to 40 canes and 2,000 li of stabs.
Compared with Wu Song, Wang Po has more crimes.
She coaxed men and women to commit adultery, instigated Pan Jinlian to kill her husband, and sentenced Ling Chi to death for several crimes.
From this point of view, it is really a smart choice for Wu Song to keep Wang Po and not kill him.
With the sin committed by the princess, the government will never let her go.
And keeping her life alive can still be a witness in the hall, so that she will not die without proof in the end.
The most prominent feature of Wu Song in the world's impression is that he is brave and invincible, but Wu Song's "wisdom" is also very outstanding.
Wu Song's entire process of avenging his brother reflects his wise side.
When he returned from an outing, he saw that his brother had died for no apparent reason, and even if he found something suspicious, he did not make a noise, but secretly investigated.
When he found Uncle He Jiu, he did not use force, but sat down to drink, and fought psychological warfare, which made Uncle He Jiu's heart feel empty.
Then he drew a sharp knife and threatened, so that Uncle He Jiu did not dare to lie.
After contacting the witnesses, he went to the county government to file a complaint, although there was no result, but Wu Song did not lose his sense of proportion.
Instead, he brought in his neighbors for them to testify, interrogated them to get testimony, and finally went to the government to surrender in an upright manner.
The whole process was quiet, but it was in full swing.
Wu Song did not start angry because of anger, but handled the matter in a way that was outwitted.
Especially in the end, leaving Wang Po not to kill reflects Wu Song's prudence and thoughtfulness.
As the mastermind of the murderer, if she said it in the hall, she could save a lot of effort, which was also the experience that Wu Song got when he failed to sue for the first time.
If he really killed Wang Po and relieved the hatred in his heart, Wu Song would lose an important witness in the public court later.
The reason for leaving Wang Po is that there is a shadow of Wang Po in the whole thing, and it is best for her to be a witness.
Moreover, Wu Song knew that with what Wang Po did, it would be absolutely impossible to escape death when he arrived at the official mansion.
Therefore, many people who read "Water Margin" will give Wu Song a high evaluation, not only because he is brave and decisive, but also because he is a shrewd and wise hero.
Wu Song acted decisively but extremely cautiously in the whole process of avenging his brother Wu Dalang
When he found out that Wu Dalang's death was strange, Wu Song did not make a big fuss, but secretly investigated it himself.
After reporting to the official to no avail, he decided to use lynching, but he prepared the whole incident and all the evidence, and then went to the government to surrender.
Especially leaving Wang Po shows Wu Song's wisdom.
Therefore, how can Wu Song, who is brave and upright and witty, not be loved by people!
*The image of Wu Song in "Water Margin".
Comparison of the images of Lu Zhishen and Wu Song in "Water Margin".
Water Margin".