CHAPTER 865: CHAPTER 865

Zhu Liang didn’t want to die, not even a little bit.

His instinct was to call for his bodyguards to protect him, but they were all outside the room, and the woman was right in front of him, just one or two meters away. If he shouted for help and angered her, it would be over if she acted immediately.

This woman was beautiful indeed, but there was an unsettling vibe about her, something quite eerie.

The hairs on the back of Zhu Liang’s neck stood on end, becoming increasingly tense. He quickly said, "Don’t kill me! I’m Young Master Zhu of the Zhu Family, I have plenty of money. No matter who hired you to kill me, I’ll pay double. No, I’ll pay five times! As long as you let me go, I’m willing to pay five times the price!"

As long as he could buy his life, Zhu Liang was willing to pay any amount.

He hoped this woman would relent, and take the money to spare him.

He regretted it now, had he known his sister would retaliate so quickly, he wouldn’t have hired a killer to assassinate her.

But now it was too late to regret, he had to find a way to solve it.

As for his sister, Zhu Yue, he had never expected it. On the surface, she seemed harmless and very close to him, but in reality, she was just as heartless and ruthless.

He had just sent someone to kill her, but failed, and her counterattack came so quickly. It was clear that it wasn’t an impulsive action, but she had already arranged with an assassin long ago to strike.

Damn woman, he had truly been deceived by her facade all along!

Just as Zhu Liang was feeling nervous, the woman spoke, "Listen carefully, I’m not here to take your life, nor am I interested in your money. I’m here to discuss a cooperation with you."

"What, you’re not an assassin? You’re here to discuss cooperation? What cooperation, what collaboration? Who are you, representing whom, and what exactly do you want to discuss?"

Zhu Liang was completely confused, thinking this woman was an assassin sent to kill him, only to find out it was a false alarm all along.

It was great that his life was intact and the danger was resolved, but the woman’s words left him perplexed. Why would someone suddenly come to discuss cooperation? What did this mean?

The woman said, "Allow me to introduce myself, you may call me Shadow. I represent the Qingshan Association. You must have heard of the Qingshan Association, right? You should be aware of our strength."

"Qingshan Association?"

Zhu Liang instinctively re-evaluated the woman. She called herself Shadow and claimed she was from the Qingshan Association?

To ordinary people, the Qingshan Association might seem unfamiliar, but Zhu Liang had some knowledge of it.

From what he understood, the Qingshan Association was a mysterious power, secretive, low-key, yet extremely cunning and ruthless in their actions. Their influence spread in many places, even in Beijing, and they had ambiguous connections with many families.

Why would such an existence suddenly send someone to contact him and discuss cooperation?

For him, a scion of a wealthy family, how could he cooperate with the Qingshan Association?

He couldn’t figure it out, truly not knowing what benefit these people wanted to gain from him.

Taking a deep breath, Zhu Liang lowered his voice and said, "I don’t like playing guessing games. Spit out your purpose quickly. What do you and the Qingshan Association behind you want to do?"

"It’s very simple. We want to offer you, Young Master Zhu, a tremendous benefit!"

"You know your status better than anyone else at the moment. Not only is your leg broken, but you’ve also been stripped of the Zhu Family’s future inheritor’s qualification. You’ve gone from being a promising family heir to a discarded lad, and in the future, you’ll have to rely on your sister’s charity to live. If she dislikes you someday or feels threatened, she’ll definitely kick you out and make you leave far away. At that time, you’d be left with nothing. Do you want to live that kind of life? Does Young Master Zhu, from the dignified Zhu Family, wish to live a life where he has to appease others, being kicked out at any time?"

"What we’re offering, the gift we’re giving you, is to reinstate you as the Zhu Family’s successor, allowing you to reclaim what originally belongs to you!"

"As long as you agree, as long as you nod your head, you’ll be the Qingshan Association’s best friend. The Qingshan Association will fear nothing to help you achieve what you want!"

The terms laid out by the woman were enticing Zhu Liang like a demon.

Zhu Liang’s intuition told him this woman absolutely had no good intentions, surely setting a trap for him.

But the offer she made was too tempting, he couldn’t refuse it.

Once, Zhu Liang was the Young Master of the Zhu Family, the heir of the Zhu Family, shining brightly.

Yet, he encountered that thug Xu Qianli, who broke his leg and made him suffer family punishment, with the position of heir snatched away by his sister Zhu Yue. Now he was no different than a waste.

He was the rightful heir to the Zhu Family, and now he had to face his sister stepping on him.

He absolutely couldn’t accept such a situation, even wanting to dispatch an assassin to kill Zhu Yue, despite her being his own sister, just to snag back what belonged to him.

But Zhu Yue, that girl, managed to escape. He didn’t know where she’d gone.

At present, he had mobilized a considerable force arranged in Wangdong Province to look for Zhu Yue’s whereabouts, but whether they could find her was another matter. She might really get away with it.

With the assassination attempt, Zhu Yue would definitely strengthen her security and not take risks easily in the future, making it harder to kill her.

At this critical juncture, leveraging the power of the Qingshan Association to have them deal with her seemed like a good option.

But the Qingshan Association wasn’t good-hearted. Since they proactively reached out to him, they certainly wanted to gain something from him.

Getting them to kill Zhu Yue was good, but if the cost was too high, it wouldn’t be worth it.

Seeing Zhu Liang remain silent, the woman said, "Young Master Zhu must be doubting our sincerity in helping you and wondering what exactly we want from you, what price you need to pay. Actually, it’s very simple. We want Young Master Zhu’s help with a small favor, just agreeing to one thing from us."

"What thing?"

Zhu Liang pricked up his ears, eager to hear what the Qingshan Association actually wanted.

The woman raised one finger, "Very simple. I’d like to ask Young Master Zhu to leverage the Zhu Family’s influence and arrange for a suitable person to govern Zhongzhou City. Because of some matters, the former Secretary of the Municipal Committee of Zhongzhou City was detained, and the position is now basically set to be taken by the Deputy Secretary, with other local candidates failing. In such a situation, unless someone parachutes into Zhongzhou City, it’s impossible to seize the Secretary position. Therefore, I’d like to ask Young Master Zhu to assist in securing the Secretary of the Municipal Committee of Zhongzhou City."

Zhu Liang fell silent.

He thought it would be some serious matter, but it turned out to be just this small thing.

In the eyes of others, getting the position of City Secretary might be a big deal, but to the Zhu Family, it’s not considered a big deal. As long as the Zhu Family exerts influence, it’s just a small matter.