A whole year had passed.
If he had followed the original timeline, the Earth Queen would have been assassinated about seven months ago, and Wu's coronation as well as Kuvira's uprising would occur in two years.
But with Zaheer not awakening his airbending powers and freeing the remaining members of the Red Lotus, Jin had to adjust his plans and expand his preparations, otherwise he wouldn't have spent an entire year working on what would become the rebirth of the Earth Kingdom.
Of course, on the bright side, Korra had not been poisoned nor suffered hallucinations. In fact, she had greatly progressed in her training and was now capable of handling an acceptable level of earthbending.
For Jin Beifong's standards, that was an enormous qualitative leap.
She had even cut her hair on her last birthday! Though it was at Asami's suggestion.
Now she was gaining experience working alongside Lin, with whom she had reached some understanding. And there was no shortage of work, not with Jin sending Retsu to deliver names, locations, and evidence.
Jin followed Kyoshi's idea and found a few people to open their chi and turn them into airbenders without them being aware of his intervention, so he could give Tenzin the news and let him take care of the rest.
Tenzin himself said he owed Jin a great favor for the news and for locating these people so quickly, so it was worth it.
Among the new airbenders was Opal Beifong, naturally.
Jin offered to host the family while they underwent training in Republic City (as there weren't enough people to justify moving to one of the four major temples), and in the process, he solved certain "latent issues" within the Metal Clan without his niece knowing about it.
Why bother her with unnecessary details?
The White Lotus had become restless lately, since two of the four Red Lotus members who had been imprisoned in facilities specifically designed for them were found dead inside, their skulls lethally fractured as if someone had struck them with a heavy iron hammer.
Zaheer and P'Li, the pair of lovers, would never meet again.
Zhu Li managed to turn Ginger into a star through the movies, and she was now on her… third husband? Or fourth. The woman was a fantastic actress on screen, but she didn't have a good eye for relationships.
Common enough in the industry these days.
Oh! Bolin had been doing spectacular work on Jasmine Island and was beloved there for his personality. He had even met a woman named Katali (who was missing her left leg below the knee due to a maritime accident), and they had married just three months ago.
And if he and Toph had sensed correctly, Bolin and Katali were going to be parents!
He was honestly happy for Bolin; the boy deserved happiness and the warmth of a complete family. Mako took care of him, but it wasn't the same. As a wedding gift, Jin personally made a high-durability, realistic prosthetic leg for Bolin's wife.
As long as Katali wore long pants, no one would be able to tell the difference!
Katali, being a native of the island, almost enshrined the piece on an altar upon learning it had been made by Jin himself, but Bolin and Jin managed to convince her that the best way to honor such a piece was to actually use the prosthetic.
If he had to add something else, it would be that Bolin had started growing a beard at Katali's suggestion. Jin needed to remember that when he took the Earth Kingdom throne, he should send him news about his family in the outer ring—he would surely be glad to hear it.
Speaking of couples and weddings, Jin had celebrated his own wedding barely two weeks ago with Zhu Li, Kyoshi, and Asami. It had been private and discreet; Bolin and his wife attended, the entire Beifong family, Korra and her mother, Tenzin and his family… they even displayed a photo of Hiroshi.
Jin had sworn not to delay the matter—he would never repeat past regrets—and he fulfilled that vow as soon as he felt they were all ready and close enough to take the next step.
He turned his head toward the bedroom; he could sense that Zhu Li and Asami were still unconscious on the king-size bed even past breakfast time.
"You know neither of them has fully mastered chi yet. Don't you think it was a bit unfair to them that you used it last night?" Kyoshi inquired beside him.
"I wouldn't have used it if you hadn't done it first."
Kyoshi clicked her tongue; it seemed that the scene of her and her "sisters" defeating Jin on that battlefield wasn't going to be easy to achieve. They would have to intensify the private classes on chi handling and perhaps help Zhu Li improve her physical condition—they also had their pride, and they couldn't faint every time!
"Let's not point fingers," Kyoshi said, indicating the scroll in her hand. "Is that what I think it is?"
Jin didn't respond to the not-so-subtle attempt to change the subject.
"Yes. It seems I can already give Gun the signal to begin," he nodded as he left the scroll on the table, its contents blurring as he dispersed the ink within so no one could extract information.
"Wait, did you actually deal with the Dai Li?"
"There's no need," Jin denied as he reclined. "I'd rather have as many of them as possible after the ascension. Something tells me I'm going to have to clean up plenty of disasters left behind by my late predecessor."
"At least tell me you won't do what you did with Ozai this time."
"I could," Jin admitted. "But I think the Queen deserves to leave with a different style."
"Asami and Zhu Li know about your plan to become monarch?"
"Of course." Jin had initially wanted to make them queens by surprise, but after thinking about it over the last few days, he felt that simply wasn't fitting. After speaking with them, each chose a sector of interest for herself, and being aware of the circumstances and facts, they had no doubt their husband could take the throne with full legitimacy. "I'm going to put Asami as Minister of Technological Development in cooperation with the Metal Clan (that is, the family), while she uses Future Industries to keep money circulating within the kingdom."
Asami had already taken the job of replacing the rail and train system in Republic City in the series; now she only had to modernize the same system for the entire kingdom, but with her husband's backing and a much larger amount of money, manpower, and specialized personnel. At the same time, Jin intended to use his position to unify technologies that, even today, were still scattered, and even take advantage of it to bring more modern ideas to the current era.
Asami had that spark—if Jin could give her the ideas and vague concepts, she could turn them into tangible machines with her ingenuity. It would be like those times when the Mechanist worked for him, but with many more possibilities at her disposal.
The greatest difference was that now he had a beautiful woman, and she was his wife.
"What about Zhu Li?" Kyoshi asked. "Does she want a similar position?"
"She's interested in the post of Minister of Education, Culture, and Entertainment."
Thanks to the businesses she inherited from Varrick, Zhu Li was now the new export queen, but she wanted to keep that as a private business for them and had enough personnel to run it almost independently.
Meanwhile, entertainment businesses like movies were gaining a lot of momentum, and Pro-Bending was still maintained as a leading sport. After Jin provided her with some books he had written, Zhu Li became aware of how minds could be manipulated through advertising, film, the use of radio, and their impact on education, among other things.
Aware of the overwhelming potential and how useful it would be for Jin and their family, she decided to take that position to help not only subtly influence the kingdom's opinion over time, but even though this would be her public office, what she was truly assuming was akin to the position of the kingdom's intelligence leader.
"Wow, and you didn't save anything for me?" Kyoshi feigned a pout.
She knew that as a spirit, having a position and subordinates was a bit…
"Actually, I thought of something that might interest you." Jin opened a drawer and took out a draft of an idea he had noted down not long ago, showing it to his spirit wife.
Kyoshi took a moment to read the contents.
"Your idea is to 'steal' your niece (Lin) from Republic City's police department and put her in charge of the kingdom's Security Department?" she hummed as her eyes traced the lines on the paper.
"Only if she agrees, but imagine Lin without the restrictions of politics and the city's tight budget, facing the corrupt people of the capital with her lie-detection skills at her disposal," Jin chuckled.
He was quite sure he could convince his niece to change jobs, and even if not, he had backup plans.
"Wait, you want me to take on the role of leading the Dai Li?!" Kyoshi's eyes widened as she reached the part where she came into play.
Was he really going to give her something to do?
"Remember that metal in the royal chamber of the palace," Jin said, giving her a general idea of everything. "Depending on how much of it is still inside, the idea is to make a couple of metal puppets so Inkasha and you can possess them and interact with the mortal world beyond your current capabilities," he explained. "With your history with the Dai Li, backed by my authority and your leadership ability, I think you can do it. Besides, this is a position that requires someone I trust completely—who better than my beloved wife?"
He definitely didn't want a second Long Feng near him.
"Now you're just trying to earn points," Kyoshi laughed, though she was no less delighted. "I suppose I could do it. But what does that leave for you?"
Just these three positions would take a lot of work off Jin.
"You know," Jin waved his hand, "international politics, decision-making, complaints about tree-climbing otter-cats, and the whole remaining package. The boring part."
Kyoshi stared at her husband with a smile on her lips.
"You're planning on taking control of the market and manipulating the trade system and the economy, aren't you?"
Jin froze completely.
"…Am I that predictable?"
"More like, I've known you long enough." Kyoshi shook her head in amusement; it was clear Jin thought he had hidden his interest well. "I suppose that, as you sometimes say, your 'hands are itching,' right?"
Although ever since he was freed from imprisonment Jin had been able to amass a huge amount of money at an astonishing rate from different sources, he hadn't been able to operate as a true "merchant" for a long time—something he took particular pride in.
For a moment, Kyoshi felt compassion for the other merchants and companies of the world—they were about to dance to her husband's tune and would even count the money for him after he left them penniless.
Eighty years ago, in less than a decade, Jin Beifong became a heavyweight in the commercial world whom no one dared underestimate, all starting from a modest investment from his father to begin his first small business at a young age.
The idea of Jin having access to the Earth Kingdom's resources, personnel, lands, and money to unleash his talent?
The very thought of it thrilled and excited Kyoshi.