Kan Ze understands that the letter contains some trickery which Cao Cao has seen through. Silently he wonders: “I do not know what kind of trickery is in the letter. How careless of me not to read the letter or ask Huang Gai about its contents. Now I have to lure Cao Cao to let me read it.” Thus Kan Ze laughs loudly. Cao Cao has Kan Ze dragged back and interrogates him again. Kan Ze lures Cao Cao to let him read the letter, and finds that in the sentence ‘provisions and equipment will follow the surrendering ships’ the trickery shows through. However, Kan Ze argues that when one makes secret plans behind the back of one’s master it would be impossible to set a fixed date for anything, and thus fools Cao Cao into believing him.
闞澤會見曹操，說明來意，曹操想在闞澤臉上找破綻，沒有找到。只有看書信，連看六七遍，突然揉須大笑，說周瑜打黃蓋是苦肉計。你先生來獻詐降書，爲朋友之交不顧自家性命，誠爲可惜。說出你的破綻，叫你死而無怨，暝目甘心。命左右將闞澤綁了斬。