The minister's mansions, like a lotus city fair,
A thousand graceful forms in misty red and dewy green.
Returning from court, they greet with smiles, front and rear,
Then suddenly are spurned, deemed rank and obscene.
Your faces now like lifeless tiles appear,
How can you match the Pingkang Lane's fair scene?
Connected brows with halos dark, twin raven hair,
Like moon on spring walls, clouds on terrace sheen.
West Lake resounds with songs and drums in riot,
Long feasts are set, yet guests remain aloof.
A purple-robed envoy descends from on high, quiet,
A hundred yellow-sealed jars grace the court's roof.
Sea turtles, river pillars piled mountain-high,
Lips of猩猩, bear's paw vie in freshness rare.
How petty, He Zeng's ten thousand coins to buy,
How crude, the Yangs' eight treasures sent with care.
When wine flows free, amusement finds its way,
Not strings, not flutes, not songs that please the ear.
Shouting at dice, a throw costs millions to pay,
Liu Yi's poor bitterness is nothing here.
Then the minister's eyes grow blurred with glee,
Pingkang's smile lights the splendid hall with spring.
At rooster's crow and bell, they leave with glee,
The minister himself gives gold, a precious thing.
Entwined with grace and love, beyond compare,
Who'd think one day they'd meet with wrath and scorn?
By chance, recovering from illness, seeking to dispel care,
He urgently sends flower messengers, their duty sworn.
Who knew the bluebird failed to understand,
Reporting back they played at waterside pavilion.
A hundred horsemen swiftly seize the band,
The judge named Jia treats them like his own kin.
Seven clerks who joined the tour are all recorded,
In one day, cash by tens of millions gained.
Clear writ on cangues commands by lake's border,
Su Causeway swept clean, no hoof-print remained.
The dashing prime minister ranks first, they claim,
But Ji and Xie would blush to share his fame.
A foul wind gusts, filling the universe with shame,
Ten thousand years of stench, when will it wane?
A strong man ought to wash it clean one day,
But I, grown old, lack strength to turn the seas away.