Chapter 251 — Arrange an Accident for Her

This time he had truly hardened his heart. Gu Pengzhan had already grown suspicious and begun to guard against him; the power he held in the company was shrinking, and if this continued, it would spell nothing but trouble for Jin Gubang.

"Understood, Dad! I'll get in touch with Zhang Yuzhou right away and have him tamper with something." Jin Maosheng nodded.

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

"I'll think up something that kills two birds with one stone this time." What Jin Maosheng had in mind was whether they might arrange an accident for Gu Mengyao. He was a more cunning and vicious man than his father, and he liked to solve his problems through accidents.

Just like that business with the chandelier crashing down in the Gu Group parking garage — he had meant to solve Gu Pengzhan with an accident. And the electrician who did the job had conveniently died by 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 chaos, leaving him no mind at all for managing the company's affairs. Then the Jin family could slip in through the opening and take the chairman's seat in one stroke.

Once out of his father's room, Jin Maosheng called Zhang Yuzhou directly. This Zhang Yuzhou was one of Li Cihua's men; Jin Maosheng would have liked to speak with Li Cihua himself, but he knew he was not yet worthy of that.

The Jin family was still not enough to catch the eye of the man behind Li Cihua. Everything they were doing now was only to pave the way in Songshan City for Young Master Bing's thinly staffed company once the Jin family controlled the Gu Group. Otherwise, that man would never trouble himself over their internal scramble for power.

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

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

To think that he, the son of a sitting shareholder of the Gu Group, amounted to nothing in that man's eyes — the thought filled Jin Maosheng with a wave of sorrow. 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 last operation had failed entirely because Jin Gubang had not investigated the people around Gu Mengyao clearly, and that failure had cost them dearly. And now they had the nerve to say the men he had found were no good?

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

Listening to Zhang Yuzhou's sinister, chilly tone, Jin Maosheng grew irritated too. It wasn't as if we're not paying you — we're ceding the company's entire real estate business, a branch worth three or four hundred million!

Rebuilding a branch like that from scratch would cost no small sum. Handing over an entire branch lock, stock, and barrel — was that a small price?

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

"That..." Zhang Yuzhou's heart gave a jolt. 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 it over — he was working for Young Master Bing. If he did the job well, would Young Master Bing treat him shabbily? By the same token, if he failed, would Young Master Bing spare him?

At that, Zhang Yuzhou broke out in a cold sweat. "Brother Jin, what kind of talk is that? You and I are both in this for our mutual benefit! Saying such things is treating me like an outsider. Rest assured, I will do everything in my power!"

Jin Maosheng sneered inwardly. If I don't put the fear of God into you, you'll drag your feet and give me half an effort forever. Out loud, though, he laughed. "What are you saying, Brother Yuzhou? After that last business, that old fox Gu Pengzhan grew suspicious and keeps pulling back the company's power. My father is in a very tight spot."

"Then... what should we do now?" Zhang Yuzhou thought to himself: I can't very well stick my hand into your company's affairs — why are you telling me this?

"If something were to happen to Gu Pengzhan's daughter, he might lose all heart for running the company, don't you think?" Jin Maosheng said mildly. "Ah, fortune is fickle — no telling what the skies will bring, eh, Brother Yuzhou?"

Zhang Yuzhou was stunned 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 weren't 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, arranging an accident to kill someone was easier than a kidnapping.

"Then we'll leave it at that. I'll be waiting for the news." Jin Maosheng hung up, thinking: if I don't rattle Zhang Yuzhou's cage a little, he still won't know what's what!

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

"Brother Cihua, it's Little Universe here!" Zhang Yuzhou had gotten Li Cihua on the phone.

"Little Universe, why are you calling at this hour? Don't you know I'm asleep?" Li Cihua slept by day and stirred by night — a fact all his underlings knew well. The only reason he kept his phone on during daylight was the fear that the boss behind the scenes might come looking for him.

"Brother Cihua, Jin Maosheng called. He wants me to do away with that little tart Gu Mengyao..." Zhang Yuzhou relayed Jin Maosheng's wishes to Li Cihua.

"Oh, that. Handle it as you see fit. No direct confrontation — the girl has good men around her. Arrange an accident, that's all." Li Cihua spoke casually; a human life meant nothing in his eyes. "Also, Young Master Bing will be here soon. This has to be wrapped up fast. The Gu Group's real estate company is the grand gift we're presenting to Young Master Bing!"

"Yes, Brother Cihua. Then I'll go do it!" With Li Cihua's affirmation, Zhang Yuzhou could act without the slightest scruple. As Zhang Yuzhou saw it, no matter how formidable that Wei Zhao beside Gu Mengyao might be, it was useless — so long as there was no direct confrontation, a few dirty tricks from the shadows would be enough to finish Gu Mengyao off.

Earlier he had still held back, wary of killing Gu Mengyao; but now that Jin Maosheng himself had spoken, then let her die. A clean death would settle everything nicely.