Pei Di was a younger friend who had not yet taken his Civil Service exams–which, in China, included writing a passable poem! During the An Lu Shan rebellion, he saved Wang’s life by smuggling one of his poems out of prison—proof he was being held by the rebels against his will. The two were separated at last when Pei Di was made governor of Szechuan, then a wild, remote place, reachable only by treacherous plank paths hung from the sides of cliffs.