Li Kui Creates Havoc in the Eastern Capital During the Lantern Festival

This episode tells how, after the heroes of Liangshan had been assigned their ranks, Song Jiang, concerned by the Liao state's incursions along the borders and the hardships suffered by the people at home, revealed his desire to seek imperial amnesty and serve the country. This idea was unanimously opposed by the chiefs, great and small. Yet Song Jiang did not abandon it. He took a small group of brothers to the Eastern Capital to view the Lantern Festival, hoping, through Li Shishi, Emperor Huizong's favored courtesan, to learn whether the emperor might be willing to grant amnesty. This angered Li Kui, who fought his way from Li Shishi's residence out of the Eastern Capital. Fortunately, Wu Yong had already dispatched the Five Tiger Chiefs to provide support, enabling Song Jiang to return safely to Liangshan. After creating havoc in the Eastern Capital, Li Kui became separated from the others and traveled with Yan Qing. As they passed Squire Liu's manor, they learned that Mantangjiao, Squire Liu's daughter, had been abducted by a man claiming to be Song Jiang. Believing the story to be true, Li Kui rushed back to Liangshan and angrily denounced Song Jiang. Song Jiang personally went down the mountain to investigate the accusation, only to discover that another villain had been impersonating him and committing crimes in his name. Li Kui then carried a bundle of thorn branches on his back and begged forgiveness. He was ordered to track down the impostor and solve the case. After completing the mission, he returned to Liangshan to report the completion of his task.The translation of this book series was assisted by various AI tools, but the translator has manually reviewed the content sentence by sentence, with particular care given to correcting potentially confusing expressions. The result is fundamentally different from content directly generated and edited by AI.