Chapter 251 — Let Her Have an Accident

This time he had truly hardened his heart. Gu Pengzhan had grown suspicious and begun to guard against him; the power in the company was being reined in day by day, and if things went on like this, it would bode ill for Jin Gubang.

"Yes, Father! I'll call Zhang Yuzhou right now and have him do a little tampering." Jin Maosheng nodded.

"Be careful of that Wei Zhao — the brat has ruined our plans twice already!" Jin Gubang warned.

"This time we must think of a way that kills two birds with one stone." What Jin Maosheng had in mind was whether they could arrange an accident for Gu Mengyao. He was a more sinister and vicious man than his father; he liked to settle his troubles with accidents.

Like that business with the chandelier crashing down in the Gu Group's parking garage — he had meant to finish Gu Pengzhan off with an accident. And the electrician who did the job had died of electrocution afterward.

Jin Maosheng was a ruthless man. As for the kidnapping of Gu Mengyao, he had never much approved of it. In his view, simply killing that girl Gu Mengyao outright would throw Gu Pengzhan into utter confusion, leaving him no heart to manage the company's affairs; then the Jin family could slip in through the breach and seize the chairman's seat in one stroke.

Stepping out of his father's room, Jin Maosheng dialed Zhang Yuzhou's number directly. Zhang Yuzhou was one of Li Cihua's men; Jin Maosheng would have liked to talk with Li Cihua face to face, but he knew he was not yet qualified for that.

The Jin family was not yet worthy of notice in the eyes of the man behind Li Cihua. Everything they did now was only to pave the way in Songshan City for Young Master Bing's company once the Jin family controlled the Gu Group; otherwise, that man would never have cared about their squabbling over power.

And the price of the Jin family's rise to power was this: they would cede their real estate business and hand it over to Young Master Bing — that man's illegitimate son.

The Gu Group had a hand in trade, real estate, department stores, hotels and entertainment, and garment manufacturing. Ceding the real estate business would mean a loss, but weighed against becoming the true master of the Gu Group, such a concession was nothing.

To think that he, the son of a shareholder of the great Gu Group, amounted to nothing at all in that man's eyes — a wave of sorrow washed over Jin Maosheng. Was that family really so powerful?

"Young Master Jin, is there something you need?" Zhang Yuzhou was nursing a grudge against the Jin father and son. The failure of the last operation was entirely because Jin Gubang had not investigated the people around Gu Mengyao thoroughly, and it had cost them dearly — and yet they had the nerve to say the men he'd found were no good?

That infuriated Zhang Yuzhou. He was, after all, one of Brother Cihua's men; he was not someone Jin Gubang could curse at as he pleased.

Listening to the cold, sinister note in Zhang Yuzhou's voice, Jin Maosheng grew angry too. It wasn't as if we didn't pay you — we ceded the company's entire real estate business, a subsidiary worth three or four hundred million!

Building a new subsidiary from scratch would cost no small sum either. Handing over a whole subsidiary like that — was that a small price?

"Mr. Zhang, I hope you understand that ours is a partnership, not a relationship of master and servant! Get this done, and Young Master Bing gets what he wants — and so do I!" Jin Maosheng was no easy mark; he played a far harder hand than his father, and this whole grab for power had been his doing from the start. "But if it falls through, I lose nothing — things simply stay as they are, and the Jin family is still a shareholder of the Gu Group. But will Young Master Bing let you off?"

"That..." Zhang Yuzhou's heart lurched. Why hadn't he thought of that before? He had been angry at the Jin family for pinning the blame on him, but now that he thought about it — he was working for Young Master Bing. If he did well, would Young Master Bing treat him shabbily? But by the same token, if he failed, would Young Master Bing spare him?

At that thought, Zhang Yuzhou broke into a cold sweat. "Brother Jin, what are you saying? You and I, we're both in this for our common interests! Talk like that is cold. Don't worry, I'll give it everything I've got!"

Jin Maosheng sneered inwardly. If I don't put the fear into you, you'll drag your feet forever and never do your best. But aloud he laughed: "What are you saying, Brother Yuzhou? After that last business, that old fox Gu Pengzhan grew suspicious and keeps reining in the company's power. My father is in a very passive position."

"Then... what should we do now?" Zhang Yuzhou thought: your company's affairs are nothing I can meddle in — why tell me this?

"If something were to happen to Gu Pengzhan's daughter, he might lose all heart for managing the company's affairs, don't you think?" Jin Maosheng said mildly. "Ah, fortune is fickle, isn't it, Brother Yuzhou?"

Zhang Yuzhou was startled for a moment, then understood that Jin Maosheng meant to play rough. But he was a desperate man himself — among Brother Cihua's men, how many were not ruthless?

"Don't worry, Brother Jin. I know what to do. It won't be long before word of a tragedy gets out." Zhang Yuzhou agreed on the spot. In truth, killing a person by accident was easier than kidnapping one.

"Then that's settled for now. I'll be waiting for the news." Jin Maosheng hung up, thinking: if I don't prod Zhang Yuzhou a bit, he won't know what's what.

Of course, though Zhang Yuzhou had agreed to Jin Maosheng's face, he would not act rashly — he had to ask Li Cihua first.

"Brother Cihua, it's Little Yuzhou here!" Zhang Yuzhou dialed Li Cihua's number.

"Little Yuzhou, why are you calling at this hour? Don't you know I'm asleep?" Li Cihua slept by day and moved by night — all his underlings knew that. The reason he kept his phone on during the day was for fear the boss behind the scenes might call.

"Brother Cihua, Jin Maosheng called and told me to kill that girl Gu Mengyao..." Zhang Yuzhou relayed Jin Maosheng's meaning to Li Cihua.

"Oh, handle it as you see fit. Don't clash head-on — the girl has good men around her. Just arrange an accident." Li Cihua spoke casually; a human life meant nothing to him. "Also, Young Master Bing is coming soon. This has to be done quickly — the Gu Group's real estate company is the grand gift we're giving Young Master Bing!"

"Yes, Brother Cihua. Then I'll go do it!" With Li Cihua's confirmation, Zhang Yuzhou could act without scruple. In his view, no matter how formidable that Wei Zhao beside Gu Mengyao was, it made no difference: so long as they didn't clash head-on, a few dirty tricks from behind would do away with Gu Mengyao just the same.

Earlier he had held back for fear of killing Gu Mengyao; now that Jin Maosheng had said as much, then let her die — one death and all troubles ended.

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