Now Bajie, following his mother-in-law, walked on inside — chamber upon chamber, past counting how many — stumbling and knocking along, with door-sills everywhere to trip his feet.

卻說, now as for — the storyteller picking up the thread he just dropped. 跟著丈母, following his mother-in-law, takes the running 著 (zhe); 行入裡面 reads 行 as xíng, to walk. 盡都是門檻絆腳, door-sills everywhere to trip the feet, with 盡 as jìn and 都 as dōu. Raised timber thresholds ran across every doorway in a Chinese house, and a man walking fast in the dark meets all of them.

The blockhead said, "Ma'am, go a little slower — I don't know the way in here; give me a little guiding."

路生, unfamiliar with the way — the same 生 that gives modern Chinese its word for a stranger. 帶我帶兒, guide me a bit, with 兒 as the diminutive. The bridegroom is asking to be led by the hand, which is how he will spend the rest of the night.

The woman said, "These are all granaries, storerooms, and milling-rooms — the various outbuildings; we've not yet even reached the kitchen quarter."

倉房, 庫房, 碾房 are the granary, the storehouse and the milling-room, where grain was hulled between stone rollers. 還不曾到, have not yet reached, takes 還 as hái; 那 as nà, 都 as dōu. Even lost in the dark he is being given a tour of the assets.

Bajie said, "What a great house!"

好大人家, what a grand household. It is working.

Bumping and knocking, round bends and past corners, they walked on a good while more before reaching the inner-hall apartments.

轉彎抹角, round bends and past corners, is still the ordinary Chinese for going the long way about — and, used of speech, for beating around the bush. 內堂房屋 is the inner hall, the private heart of the house where no guest goes.

The woman said, "Son-in-law, your elder brother says today is a Heaven-favored, auspicious day, so we've had you married in at once."

今朝, today, reads 朝 as zhāo. 天恩上吉日, a day of Heaven's grace and highest fortune; 就教你招進來, had you married in at once, with the causative 教 (jiào). She is quoting Wukong back at him, which ought to be a warning and is not.

"Only, in the haste, we've not managed to summon a yin-yang master for the hall-bowing and the bed-strewing rites."

And here the fraud shows, if anyone were minded to look. 倉卒間, in the haste; 請得個陰陽, fetch a yin-yang master, with the light de. The 陰陽 was the professional who chose auspicious hours and ran the ceremony — no Ming wedding of any standing happened without one. 拜堂撒帳 is bowing in the hall and scattering grain and coins over the bridal bed, the two indispensable rites. She has just explained that this wedding will have neither, and Bajie does not blink.

"You may just face forward and make eight bows."

朝上, facing forward, reads 朝 as cháo, to face — set against the zhāo of 今朝 two lines above, the same character twice in one speech. 拜八拜, make eight obeisances, with 兒 as the suffix.

Bajie said, "What you say is right, ma'am."

娘說得是, what you say is right, with the structural de. No haggling at all.

"You take the seat of honor; let me make a few bows — count it as the hall-bowing, count it as the thanks to the in-laws, two things in one — is that not a saving of trouble?"

Or rather, haggling of a sort. 就當拜堂, 就當謝親 — count it as the hall-bowing, count it as the thanks to the in-laws, with 當 as dàng, to reckon as. 兩當一, two reckoned as one, again with 當 as dàng and 兒 as the suffix; 省事, to save trouble. He is trying to get a discount on his own wedding.

His mother-in-law said with a laugh, "Well then, well then."

也罷, 也罷 — very well, very well. She lets him have it.

"A trouble-saving, house-managing son-in-law indeed."

省事幹家, trouble-sparing and house-managing. It sounds like praise. It is the sound of somebody watching a man rush toward a rope.

"I'll sit, then; you make your bows."

我坐著, I will be seated, with the running 著 (zhe); 你拜麼, you bow, then. She takes the seat of honour and the sham ceremony begins.