Page:Romance of the Three Kingdoms - tr. Brewitt-Taylor - Volume 1.djvu/57

 Fear seized them in its grip and they were silent, all but Yüan Shao who said that the Emperor was innocent of any fault and to set him aside in favour of a commoner was rebellion and nothing else.

“The Empire is in my hands;” cried Cho, “an I choose to do this thing who will dare say nay? Think you my sword lacks an edge?”

“If your sword is sharp, mine is never blunt,” said Shao as his sword flashed out of the sheath.

The two men stood face to face amid the feasters:

The fate of Yüan Shao will be disclosed in later chapters.