“Now, let me tell you about Song Gongming, the Timely Rain. He was generous and righteous, and loved making friends with heroes of the martial world...” The storyteller swayed his head, spittle flying. “The one hundred and eight heroes of Liangshan were all champions who acted in Heaven’s name! Song, their elder brother, especially, wanted nothing more than to accept the imperial amnesty and serve the court. What unswerving loyalty!”
The audience listened, spellbound, breaking into cheers from time to time. In a corner, a young man was so stirred that he slapped the table. “Well said! Brother Song Gongming is the most loyal and righteous man in all of history!”
At this, an elderly scholar beside him, his beard and hair white as snow, took offense. He set his teacup down with a thump, stroked his goatee, and sneered. “Young man, you know one side of the story, but not the other!”
The young man paused. “And what do you mean by that, sir?”
The old scholar shot him a sidelong glance. “Have you really understood Water Margin, written by the esteemed Shi Nai’an? That Song Jiang of his was up to no good from beginning to end! ‘Loyalty and righteousness’ was nothing but a slogan he mouthed! Look at what he did: secretly helping Chao Gai escape, colluding with Qingfeng Stronghold, attacking the Zhu family manor three times... Wasn’t every bit of it meant to strengthen his own power? He kept proclaiming that he would ‘serve the emperor and repay the nation,’ but what he really wanted was ‘scales piled high with gold and silver, great bowls of wine and meat.’ He was after a life of freedom and ease, and even dreamed of carving out a kingdom and becoming a lord! How can a man like that be called loyal and righteous?”
Beautiful and well written