白虎殿舉哀 Mourning in the White-Tiger Hall
卻說那唐朝駕下有徐茂公、秦叔寶、胡敬德、段志玄、馬三寶、程咬金、高士廉、李世勣、房玄齡、杜如晦、蕭瑀、傅奕、張道源、張士衡、王珪等兩班文武，俱保著那東宮太子與皇后、嬪妃、宮娥、侍長，都在那白虎殿上舉哀。一壁廂議傳哀詔，要曉諭天下，欲扶太子登基。時有魏徵在傍道：「列位且住，不可，不可。假若驚動州縣，恐生不測。且再按候一日，我主必還魂也。」下邊閃上許敬宗道：「魏丞相言之甚謬。自古云：『潑水難收，人逝不返。』你怎麼還說這等虛言，惑亂人心，是何道理？」魏徵道：「不瞞許先生說，下官自幼得授仙術，推算最明，管取陛下不死。」却说那唐朝驾下有徐茂公、秦叔宝、胡敬德、段志玄、马三宝、程咬金、高士廉、李世𪟝、房玄龄、杜如晦、萧瑀、傅奕、张道源、张士衡、王珪等两班文武，俱保着那东宫太子与皇后、嫔妃、宫娥、侍长，都在那白虎殿上举哀。一壁厢议传哀诏，要晓谕天下，欲扶太子登基。时有魏征在傍道：「列位且住，不可，不可。假若惊动州县，恐生不测。且再按候一日，我主必还魂也。」下边闪上许敬宗道：「魏丞相言之甚谬。自古云：『泼水难收，人逝不返。』你怎么还说这等虚言，惑乱人心，是何道理？」魏征道：「不瞒许先生说，下官自幼得授仙术，推算最明，管取陛下不死。」
逐句解 Line by line
Now under the Tang court there were the two ranks of civil and military officers — Xu Maogong, Qin Shubao, Hu Jingde, Duan Zhixuan, Ma Sanbao, Cheng Yaojin, Gao Shilian, Li Shiji, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Xiao Yu, Fu Yi, Zhang Daoyuan, Zhang Shiheng, Wang Gui, and the rest — all of whom, together with the crown prince of the Eastern Palace, the empress, the consorts, the palace maids, and the senior attendants, were keeping mourning in the White-Tiger Hall.
The roll-call of Taizong's actual ministers and generals, most of them famous enough that a Ming audience would have known their faces from opera. One oddity: 徐茂公, Xu Maogong, and 李世勣, Li Shiji, are the same historical man — the general Li Ji, who bore both names at different points in his career — and the novel lists him twice. 東宮太子 is the heir apparent, housed by tradition in the Eastern Palace; 子 is zǐ. The 白虎殿, the White-Tiger Hall, is where the coffin lies. On the simplified page, 勣 comes out as 𪟝, a character so rare that many fonts will not draw it.
On one hand they deliberated issuing a proclamation of mourning, to make it known throughout the realm, and meant to set the crown prince upon the throne.
哀詔 is the edict announcing a sovereign's death — the document that makes it official. 曉諭 is to notify the realm. 子 is zǐ. The succession is minutes from being set in motion.
Then Wei Zheng, standing by, said, 'My lords, hold — it may not be, it may not be. Should we alarm the prefectures and districts, some mishap might arise. Let us wait one day more: my sovereign will surely return to life.'
And Wei Zheng stops it. 按候 is to hold off and wait. 還魂 is huán hún, the soul returning to the body. He is asking the court to delay the enthronement of an emperor on his private assurance that the dead one will be back shortly.
From below, Xu Jingzong stepped forth and said, 'Prime Minister Wei speaks great nonsense. As the old saying goes, "Spilled water cannot be gathered up; the departed do not return." How can you still utter such empty words, throwing men's hearts into confusion? What sense is there in it?'
The voice of common sense, and it is not wrong. 丞相 uses xiàng, prime minister. 「潑水難收，人逝不返」 — spilt water cannot be gathered, the departed do not come back — is proverbial, and 潑水難收 is still current for anything past undoing. 甚謬 uses shèn, exceedingly.
Wei Zheng said, 'I will not deceive you, Master Xu: since my youth I have been taught the immortals' arts, and my reckonings are most clear. I warrant Your Majesty will not die.'
Wei Zheng plays his last card, and it is a strange one for a Confucian minister. 得授仙術 is "was taught the arts of the immortals"; 得 is dé. 管取 is "I guarantee." This is the same man who beheaded a dragon in his sleep — the novel has been quietly building him into something other than a statesman.
The narrative cuts back to the world above, where the court, convinced the emperor is dead, is preparing to enthrone his heir.
The scene turns on the clash between Xu Jingzong's worldly good sense — spilt water cannot be gathered up — and Wei Zheng's flat, unarguable certainty that Taizong will revive. Wei's claim to 仙術, the arts of the immortals, explains after the fact everything he has done in the crisis, from executing a dragon in his sleep to holding up an imperial succession on his own say-so.