打掃壇場 Preparing the Altar
行者笑道：「小和尚也曉得些兒求禱。」國王見說，即命打掃壇場。一壁廂教：「擺駕，寡人親上五鳳樓觀看。」當時多官擺駕，須臾，上樓坐了。行者笑道：「小和尚也晓得些儿求祷。」国王见说，即命打扫坛场。一壁厢教：「摆驾，寡人亲上五凤楼观看。」当时多官摆驾，须臾，上楼坐了。
逐句解 Line by line
Pilgrim said with a laugh, “This little monk knows a thing or two about praying, as it happens.”
行者: 行 = xíng. 曉得: 得 = de, to know how. 些兒: 兒 = er, "a little." The understatement is the joke: the speaker has personally ransacked heaven.
The king, hearing this, at once ordered the altar-ground swept and made ready.
見說 "hearing this." 打掃壇場: 場 = chǎng here, the altar-ground as a place -- the other half of the pair from the previous passage. 掃 = sǎo.
And on the other hand he gave the order: “Bring round my carriage — I shall go up in person to the Five-Phoenix Tower to watch.”
一壁廂: the falling tone of 壁 pulls 一 to yí. 教 = jiào, to order. 擺駕 "bring the royal carriage round." 寡人 "the solitary one," the self-deprecating word a ruler uses for himself, rather like the royal we. 觀看: 觀 = guān, to watch.
At that time the many officers brought round the carriage, and in a moment he went up and took his seat in the tower.
當時: 當 = dāng. 須臾 "in a moment." 上樓坐了: 了 = le.
"This little monk knows a thing or two about praying." It is the flattest possible answer to a death sentence, and it is delivered by someone who once fought the armies of heaven to a standstill.
The king takes it at face value and orders the altar swept, the carriage brought round, and a seat prepared for him in the tower. All the bustle turns the contest into public theatre with the court as audience -- which is what Wukong wanted. A private victory would have proved nothing about who these three immortals really are.