[I swear upon the Luo River that I will execute Benchu alone.]
Compared with the letter urging surrender that had imitated Ju Shou's handwriting earlier, this secret letter was short, only a few hundred words.
Yet Yuan Shao spent a full hour reading it!
Yuan Tan, Tian Feng, and the others waited silently in the Central Army Camp Tent for half an hour.
They watched Yuan Shao's expression change from initial bewilderment to shock midway through, and finally to his present terror.
"Impossible, absolutely impossible!"
Yuan Shao cried out in horror.
Overcome by fear and dread, he collapsed straight onto the ground.
"Father!"
Yuan Tan stepped forward to help Yuan Shao up, only to be shoved away.
"Out! All of you, get out! Leave me alone for a while!"
At Yuan Shao's furious roar, Yuan Tan, Tian Feng, and the others left the Central Army Camp Tent, bewildered.
Only after no one else remained in the tent did Yuan Shao calm down a little.
He stared blankly at the secret letter in his hand and murmured, "The false Son of Heaven I installed was actually the legitimate heir of the Han Dynasty!"
"No wonder I always felt someone was secretly plotting against me. It was the Son of Heaven and Yang Biao all along!"
"No wonder Kong Rong publicly declared that he could not distinguish the true Son of Heaven from the false, even at the cost of dragging his reputation through the mud, yet now serves him in Ye City. He did it to provide cover for the Son of Heaven."
"No wonder purple qi rose from the Sacrificial Brazier and hovered above his head when he offered sacrifices to Heaven."
"No wonder even Cao Aman grew suspicious of the Son of Heaven in Xu County and sent men