看了又看 He Looked At It Again And Again
開言時，聲音斷續。長老將文牒獻上，那國王眼目昏朦，看了又看，方才取寶印，用了花押，遞與長老。長老收訖。开言时，声音断续。长老将文牒献上，那国王眼目昏朦，看了又看，方才取宝印，用了花押，递与长老。长老收讫。
逐句解 Line by line
and when he opened his mouth, his voice came and went.
Seven characters. 斷續 — breaking off and continuing — is what a voice does when there is not enough breath behind it.
The elder presented the rescript, and the king, his eyes dim and clouded, looked at it and looked again before at last taking up the precious seal, putting his sign to it, and handing it back to the elder.
看了又看 — looked and looked again — is not suspicion, it is a man who cannot see. 花押 huā yā is the personal cipher an official or ruler drew in place of a signature, an individual flourish that was meant to be impossible to copy.
The elder received it back.
Four characters, and the errand that brought them to this kingdom is complete. They could leave now.
The business of the visit is done in one sentence, and the novel makes sure the reader registers that. The rescript is stamped. The party has what it came for. Everything from this point on is the pilgrims choosing to stay.
The details of the king's body keep accumulating and none of them is grotesque. His hands go wrong at the bow, his voice comes and goes, his eyes will not focus on a document. This is a man dying of something entirely ordinary, and the chapter has put him in front of us just before it shows us what he is willing to do about it.