特來朝見 Come to Petition the Emperor
今行至天竺國界，有一外郡，名鳳仙郡。彼處三年不雨，民甚艱苦，老孫欲祈雨拯救。呼得龍王到彼，他言無旨，不敢私自為之，特來朝見玉帝請旨。」今行至天竺国界，有一外郡，名凤仙郡。彼处三年不雨，民甚艰苦，老孙欲祈雨拯救。呼得龙王到彼，他言无旨，不敢私自为之，特来朝见玉帝请旨。」
逐句解 Line by line
"We have now got as far as the border of India. There is an outer prefecture there called Fengxian.
The same phrase the prefect's own officials used — an outer prefecture. Pilgrim repeats the administrative description upward, to heaven, exactly as he received it.
"For three years no rain has fallen there. The people are in great hardship, and Old Monkey wishes to pray for rain and rescue them.
甚 is shèn here, the intensifier meaning very — not the shén that asks what, which appeared a few passages back in this same chapter. 三年, three years, arrives again. This is the fourth time the number has been stated and it will not be the last.
"I called the Dragon King there, and he says that without an edict he dare not do it on his own account. So I have come specially to present myself to the Jade Emperor and request one."
為 is wéi, to do — the same construction the Tang Monk used when he told Pilgrim to go and do it. 朝見 is to appear before a sovereign at court, and the word carries the whole ceremony of audience and protocol. Pilgrim is filing an application.
Pilgrim's account is scrupulously accurate. He states the location, the duration, his intention, the obstacle and his request, in that order, without embroidery.
This is a monkey who once smashed his way through this same gate with an iron cudgel. Here he arrives at it, is greeted courteously, explains his business and asks to see the Emperor through the proper channel. Nothing in the text draws attention to the change. The novel simply lets you notice.