Some emperors didn't attend imperial court levees because they were reluctant to leave beautiful and pretty whores. Ning Que refused to have meals because he didn't want to leave his valuable calligraphy. Naturally, the 'refusal to have meals' meant that Ning Que wouldn't attend other banquets in the future. This was not due to his objection to Tang Empire. He wouldn't go through something as lame as a hunger strike.
That terrible famine in his childhood left a serious psychological shadow in his heart, so he insisted that eating should be the most important thing in the world. There wasn't any celestial being who could survive without eating food. Even for the first mightiest man Sage of Sword Liu Bai would feel pale and tired if he didn't have food for several days. Anyone, no matter who he was, would die if he didn't eat.