Mu Tianyan replied, "Later, Wang Bo became a high-ranking official, and the court sent him to govern Yangzhou. He returned to Mulan Courtyard, where the monks naturally fawned over him. When he went to see whether the poem he had written on the wall was still there, he found that a piece of precious Bishalung had been pasted over it, enclosing the two lines he had written to protect them from damage. Wang Bo was deeply moved and added two more lines beneath them: 'Thirty years ago, my face was stained with dust; only now have I gained a Bishalung.'"
Song Qingshu frowned. "Did he have those bald thieves seized and beaten with planks?"
Mu Tianyan said, "Wang Bo was a man of refined tastes. He likely considered two lines of verse enough to offer a slight rebuke."
Song Qingshu shook his head. "I don't agree. A true man standing between heaven and earth should settle gratitude and grudges to his heart's content. Didn't your Han Chinese Confucius say, 'If one repays resentment with virtue, then how does one repay virtue? Repay resentment with justice!' If it were me, I would definitely vent my anger properly."
At first, everyone had taken him for an uncultured fool and secretly mocked the Jin Dynasty for allowing such a muddleheaded man to become the highest military and civil authority. Yet the imposing aura that had suddenly risen from him moments earlier made them break out in cold sweat, and they immediately began to view him in a new light.
"Marshal, not only are you formidable on the battlefield, but you have even studied the Analects so thoroughly. We are truly filled with admiration!" Mu Tianyan and the others hurriedly flattered him so extravagantly that even Song Qingshu felt a little lightheaded. *No wonder