American Comics: BOSS Invasion

Zhang Deliang had finally obtained the tiger tally he had longed for day and night. He didn't want to wait a moment longer. After leaving the palace, he took his followers and subordinates and headed straight out of the north gate.

As a Grand Secretary, Zhang Deliang held immense power in the court, having reached the pinnacle of his career. Naturally, his出行 (chūxíng - to go on a journey, set out) was a grand affair, with 18 followers at his side.

To the officials of the court, Grand Secretary Zhang was like a tiger. Every move of the tiger was closely watched by the lower-level officials in the food chain.

However, Zhang Deliang usually just frequented brothels, occasionally visited the training grounds, or stayed at home reading and writing. He rarely gathered with his colleagues for lofty discussions, as his status deterred anyone from casually chatting with him.

And the big shots of his rank each had their own pile of messes to deal with, too busy to even think, let alone get together and talk about trivial matters.

Today, however, was different. After a trip to the palace, Zhang Deliang unexpectedly left through the north gate.

The Grand Secretary left the capital without notice. What was he planning?

Zhang Deliang's actions instantly aroused the curiosity of many.

Fortunately, these people knew their limits and understood that Zhang Deliang was not to be trifled with. So, although they were curious, they only sent some servants and retainers to guard the city gate, trying to gather some bits and pieces of information.

Sending someone to follow and investigate was out of the question, and they couldn't find a reason to do so anyway.

Zhang Deliang, however, didn't think about any of this. He was just anxious and excited.

How many years had it been? How many years? After generations of effort, they had finally obtained the tiger tally from the Emperor. As long as they controlled the last Flying Tiger Army, restricting the Emperor's direct power, the country could complete its reforms from top to bottom. Then, the Great Qi Dynasty would become prosperous and last for ten thousand years.

Zhang Deliang firmly believed this, which was why he was so excited.

He spurred his horse on, and even though he was old, he was a military man by origin. A mere twenty li sprint was nothing.

His family guards followed closely. After learning from the master what they were looking for, everyone's eyes were fixed on the roadside, intersections, and other sensitive places.

After running for twenty li, they initially encountered some pedestrians or merchants' caravans, but later the road became deserted. They didn't see a single person. Moreover, twenty li was not far from the capital. Even though they rarely left the capital, they were familiar with the surrounding terrain.

There were no taverns within twenty or thirty li outside the north gate. Firstly, the distance was too short. Even if people wanted to stop for a break, they wouldn't need to do so so close. Nowadays, everyone has iron legs, able to walk forty or fifty li a day easily. Without such endurance, they wouldn't be merchants, as it would be too time-consuming.

The location of twenty li was neither here nor there. Even if a tavern were opened, few would patronize it. This was the fundamental problem. If people didn't come and money couldn't be earned, then why open a tavern?

The questions were in their minds, but they wouldn't say anything.

After galloping for twenty li, they indeed found no tavern. The family guard felt a little smug, thinking that his judgment was correct. The master must have been fooled by someone. He was about to step forward, wanting to remind the master in a tactful way that he might have been deceived.

Just then, a scout ahead suddenly shouted in surprise, "I see a tavern, at the fork in the road!"

Zhang Deliang was overjoyed and quickly looked in the direction the scout was pointing. Sure enough, through the gaps in the trees, he could vaguely see a building resembling a tavern below the fork in the road.

However, the location of this tavern was a little strange. Usually, taverns were afraid that people wouldn't see their buildings, so they would raise bamboo poles high, so that passing merchants could see the flags waving in the wind from a distance.

But this tavern, as if afraid of being found, was hidden directly at the fork in the road and obscured by dense trees. If people were in a hurry, they probably wouldn't even raise their heads before passing by.

The family guard was stunned, muttering in his heart, "Isn't this crazy? What kind of idiot would open a tavern here?"

While he was feeling depressed, Zhang Deliang was overjoyed.

He couldn't help but be skeptical when he came, because this time the Emperor was too quick to agree. He had originally prepared for a tug-of-war in his heart, hoping to take advantage of this rare opportunity to make the Emperor take a step back, which would already be a rare victory.

But unexpectedly, he had only made a bold demand, generally proposing to take the troops, and the Emperor had given them to him with a shrug, as if the Flying Tiger Army was not worth mentioning to him at all.

You must know that the Flying Tiger Army was the last direct force of the royal family. If the Flying Tiger Army was not transferred from Beijing, then the royal family would truly become an isolated island in the city, with no force of any scale to protect them.

Zhang Deliang didn't believe that the Emperor couldn't think of such serious consequences, but if he could think of it, then why would the Emperor easily hand over the tiger tally?

This question had been bothering him, making him unable to figure it out. But the moment he saw the tavern, Zhang Deliang threw this doubt to the back of his mind!

In any case, now that the tiger tally was in hand, he would first get the Flying Tiger Army under his control.

The group rushed into the fork in the road with a whoosh, stopping directly in front of the tavern.

The family guard was slightly surprised. The style of this tavern was indeed quite unique.

It was all built of good wood, and it had two floors. The area outside for tying horses was also paved with large pieces of good wood, extending the floor from the inside.

This cost a lot of money!

Most of the ordinary roadside taverns and teahouses were casually built with bamboo poles and straw mats. On sunny days, they could provide some shade, but they would be blown away in minutes in strong winds and heavy rain.

The family guard had never seen a roadside tavern like this before. Could it have been built by some bored young master from the capital?

Zhang Deliang looked at the style of the tavern in front of him. It was indeed unique, which added to its credibility in his mind, because the Flying Tiger Army had been different from any other unit from the day it appeared.

Since it had already been formed, it meant that the number of people was definitely not small. No matter how secretive it was, people had to eat and horses had to graze, and there had to be training on weekdays.

Such a big movement, how could it be hidden from the civil and military officials? But no one could find where the Flying Tiger Army was located, and some even suspected whether the Flying Tiger Army really existed.

Zhang Deliang raised his head slightly. A huge signboard was hanging there quietly, with two large characters written on it: "Flying Tiger."

Zhang Deliang's pupils shrank, and he clenched his fists, shouting in his heart: "Finally found it!"