Some craved chicken, while others sat before stewed chicken yet found it tasteless, sighing long and short.
Canglu County lay in a remote place. There were no truly learned great scholars here; even if there had been, such a small place could not have kept them—they would have left long ago. Lin Shangpo was considered quite learned within the county town, so he too had received an invitation.
With meat and vegetables laid out on the table, Lin Shangpo picked up his chopsticks, then put them down again. He took up the invitation set beside him and read it over and over, as though he might read flowers from it. At last, invitation in hand, he left the table, abandoning his wife and children, and paced beside the bamboo grove outside.
Madam Lin quickly followed him out and asked, "An invitation from the County Princess—others could beg for one and never get it. Why are you so worried?"
Lin Shangpo shook his head with a sigh. "The Capital City is where the true elegant men of letters gather, where learned people converge. What has the County Princess not seen? Where could a little place like this find anyone truly versed in poetry and verse? This meeting friends through poetry looks like nothing more than an excuse. Haven't you seen the stirrings in Canglu County lately? The wealthy households have practically all been ransacked. That Prince is plainly amassing wealth. Our family is rather well-off. I fear this invitation means the banquet will be no good banquet, and the gathering no good gathering!"
Madam Lin immediately grew tense. "Then what do we do?"
Lin Shangpo sighed. "What else can we do? Once we've been marked, I'm afraid we couldn't escape even if we ran..."
With whitewashed walls and dark tiles, Su