"Tomorrow morning, I will set out for Xu County, then go on to Ye City."
With that, Kong Rong said no more and turned straight back into his residence.
He left behind only the emissaries from Xu County and Ye City, exchanging looks, and the dumbstruck crowd.
Early the next morning.
Under Taishi Ci's protection, Kong Rong followed the Xu County emissary's convoy out of Beihai Commandery and embarked on the road to Yingchuan.
The news swiftly spread far and wide.
Ye City, Yuan Shao's residence.
"That old bastard Kong Rong went to Xu County after all."
After reading the dispatch delivered by a courier riding at full speed, Yuan Shao tore it to pieces, his face dark.
He feigned anger before his advisers, but inwardly, he was utterly delighted.
The Son of Heaven in Xu County was genuine, after all. As long as Kong Rong had not gone senile, he would recognize him.
If he went to Xu County and recognized the True Dragon Son of Heaven, he would surely declare the Son of Heaven of Xu County genuine and the one in Ye City a fake, giving Yuan Shao a pretext to make trouble.
But if he came to Ye City first and saw through that refugee's identity, Yuan Shao would have no defense even with a hundred mouths.
His reputation would plunge to rock bottom, and condemnation and abuse from everyone under heaven would await him.
Yuan Shao looked at Ju Shou beside him and asked, "How are the preparations for Yuan Shu's execution?"
Some time had passed since Yuan Shu had been thrown into the imperial prison.
Yuan Shao had kept him alive only because he wanted to find a suitable opportunity to kill him and build his own reputation.
Now that news of Kong