綵樓拋毬招婿 The Embroidered Ball Chooses a Groom
不期遊到丞相殷開山門首，有丞相所生一女，名喚溫嬌，又名滿堂嬌，未曾婚配，正高結綵樓，拋打繡毬卜婿。適值陳光蕊在樓下經過。小姐一見光蕊人材出眾，知是新科狀元，心內十分歡喜，就將繡毬拋下，恰打著光蕊的烏紗帽。猛聽得一派笙簫細樂，十數個婢妾走下樓來，把光蕊馬頭挽住，迎狀元入相府成婚。那丞相和夫人即時出堂，喚賓人贊禮，將小姐配與光蕊。拜了天地，夫妻交拜畢，又拜了岳丈、岳母。丞相吩咐安排酒席，歡飲一宵。二人同攜素手，共入蘭房。不期游到丞相殷开山门首，有丞相所生一女，名唤温娇，又名满堂娇，未曾婚配，正高结彩楼，抛打绣毬卜婿。适值陈光蕊在楼下经过。小姐一见光蕊人材出众，知是新科状元，心内十分欢喜，就将绣毬抛下，恰打著光蕊的乌纱帽。猛听得一派笙箫细乐，十数个婢妾走下楼来，把光蕊马头挽住，迎状元入相府成婚。那丞相和夫人即时出堂，唤宾人赞礼，将小姐配与光蕊。拜了天地，夫妻交拜毕，又拜了岳丈、岳母。丞相吩咐安排酒席，欢饮一宵。二人同携素手，共入兰房。
逐句解 Line by line
Unlooked-for, his procession came to the gate of the Chancellor, Yin Kaishan, who had a daughter named Wenjiao — also called Mantangjiao — as yet unbetrothed,
殷開山 (Yin Kaishan, the historical 殷嶠, d. 622), one of Taizong's founding generals, here promoted by the novel to Chancellor. 溫嬌 / 滿堂嬌 ('Hall-filling Charm') is his daughter; both occurrences of 相 in 丞相 read xiàng.
and was just then up in a high silk-hung tower, casting an embroidered ball to choose her groom.
綵樓, a tower draped with colored silks; 拋打繡毬卜婿, the casting of an embroidered ball to divine (卜, bǔ) a husband — a stock motif of romance fiction and drama.
It happened that Chen Guangrui was passing just beneath the tower.
適值, 'it chanced just then.'
At a single glance the young lady saw that Guangrui was a man of outstanding bearing, and knowing him to be the newly-named Top Graduate, was overjoyed within;
人材出眾, of outstanding presence; 新科狀元, the freshly-laureated Top Graduate.
she let the embroidered ball drop, and it struck Guangrui's black gauze cap square.
烏紗帽, the black gauze cap of officialdom — its being struck a neat emblem of office and marriage falling to Guangrui together. 打著 takes 著 as the resultative zháo.
Of a sudden there came a burst of pipes and flutes in delicate consort, and a dozen-odd maidservants came down from the tower,
笙簫細樂, soft consort-music of reed-organ and flute; 樂 is yuè, 'music.' 聽得 takes 得 as the resultative complement de.
took hold of Guangrui's horse by the head, and ushered the Top Graduate into the Chancellor's residence to be wed.
相府, the Chancellor's residence; 相 reads xiàng.
That Chancellor and his lady came out into the hall at once, called in a master of ceremonies, and matched the young lady to Guangrui.
贊禮, the master of ceremonies who intones the wedding rites; 配與, to give in marriage. 那 here is the demonstrative nà, and 相 in 丞相 is xiàng.
They bowed to Heaven and Earth, husband and wife exchanged their bows, and they bowed too to her father and mother.
拜天地, the bow to Heaven and Earth that solemnizes the marriage.
The Chancellor ordered a banquet laid, and they feasted merrily the night through.
丞相 with 相 as xiàng.
The two of them, hand in hand, went in together to the bridal chamber.
蘭房, the 'orchid chamber,' a literary term for the bridal room; 同攜素手, hand in hand — a tender close that sharpens the irony of the catastrophe to come.
The 拋繡毬 — a maiden casting an embroidered ball from a tower to pick her husband from the crowd below — is a stock romance device of vernacular fiction, here delivering the new Top Graduate straight into the Chancellor's house. Yin Kaishan 殷開山 was a real man (殷嶠, d. 622), one of Taizong's founding generals and an honoree of the Lingyan Pavilion; the novel anachronistically raises him to Chancellor and grandfather of Tripitaka. The daughter's double name — Wenjiao / Mantangjiao, 'Hall-filling Charm' — and the tender image of the couple entering the 蘭房 set up, with deliberate irony, the calamity that the journey downriver is about to bring.