Jin stood silently, carefully sensing the finer details of a small stone carving on the table, about forty centimeters tall.
He placed a hand over his agitated chest and took a deep breath—twice.
"Are you sure about the sender?" he asked one of his secretaries, specifically one of the newly appointed ones after the palace staff reshuffling.
"Yes, Your Majesty," the secretary checked the note in her hand and read its contents. "A coronation gift from the Sun Warriors."
The secretary didn't know who these people were, but judging by the king's behavior, they had to be important.
Jin nodded while carefully picking up the stone carving. He would move it to his personal bedroom later. It was one of the best gifts he had received, and he would take great care of it.
The carving was a replica of a woman—of a Sun Warrior he knew in great detail: Xi.
"A few decades," Jin said sadly in his heart as he stored the carving away. "Just give me a little time and we can be together again. I'm really looking forward to introducing you to Asami and Zhu Li, I'm sure you'll get along with them, telling you what's happened with Kyoshi and—"
"Your Majesty?"
The secretary saw Jin go blank for a moment.
"Hmm? Oh, I got distracted for a moment," Jin tried to clear his head by shaking it. "What did you say?"
"The airship you sent to Republic City has already landed, and we've escorted the guests to wait for your arrival."
Jin took a moment to expand his senses.
Indeed, everyone was waiting for him.
But not in the throne room—the ones who came were family and friends; he wasn't going to treat this like an audience between a king and his subjects. Instead, they were in the dining hall, chatting with Asami and Zhu Li.
Meelo had already broken two vases, Ikki's face was covered in mashed potatoes…
Better to arrive before a full-blown food war erupted!
"Very well. Make sure they're comfortable, and if something breaks, have it picked up before anyone gets hurt. You may go; I'll be there shortly."
The secretary bowed quickly and left.
Jin turned his head toward the right column.
"So, are you coming out?"
From behind the column emerged a hunched man with a sinister laugh, several scars, and missing teeth.
"Mememememe, just as expected of the legendary Jin Beifong." He drew a knife from its sheath and rolled it between his fingers before grotesquely licking the blade. "Too bad for you, I've been hired to finish you off. I was going to refuse, but when they offer that much money… wouldn't it be rude to decline?"
"You intend to kill me with a knife?" If Jin weren't blind, he would've given him a strange look.
It was like claiming you could kill a waterbender by throwing a pitcher of water at their head.
Also… what was that "mememe" thing?
Do you think you're a One Piece character with your own signature laugh?
"Oh, no, no, not at all," the man clearly loved hearing his own voice. "The knife is merely the medium through which I perform my art. Do you see this bluish coating—?" The assassin remembered that Jin was blind and corrected himself. "There's a layer of poison on the blade, my personal recipe. Just a light scratch is enough to cause certain death in less than a minute. No pain, only death. After all, I'm a seasoned professional." The hunchback narrowed his eyes. "Only the weak enjoy the suffering of their targets, but luckily for you, I have standards."
An assassin talking about moral standards—how poetic.
"And that would be about a minute."
"What are you—?" The assassin looked at him, confused, before collapsing on his back, dead.
"There's no doubt he was a professional; the poison is definitely effective." Jin stood up to leave, planning to warn the Dai Li along the way so they could dispose of the body. "But licking a poisoned blade on purpose, that is… no, that's just stupid."
As for the bounty the assassin mentioned, he didn't care, and this wouldn't be the last person to come after it. The only reason this strange assassin reached him was because Jin allowed it, noticing he avoided harming anyone along the way.
Others might believe the Dai Li were there to protect him, but from the moment someone set foot in the outer palace gardens, Jin controlled their life and death.
…
Though meeting everyone had been the plan, Jin first approached Suyin, Lin, Opal, and company to make sure everything was fine. Even though he had handled Hou-Ting's "intimidation" toward the family and sent what was needed to help them recover, Suyin might require help with certain matters.
"It's more than enough," Suyin assured him as she held his hands. "Three years, that's all I need to get things running again," she promised.
She had spent sleepless nights doing calculations with her husband—if they wanted everything to function properly and endure, three years was the timeframe they needed.
"Also, thank you for keeping the state of Zaofu as it is," Baatar said, stepping forward. "Don't worry about the infrastructure projects; I swear on my pride as an architect that everything will be done perfectly."
Suyin rolled her eyes at her husband.
Ever since he saw the designs Jin had sent him, he had become obsessed with them—far from the calm and confidence he displayed at this moment. She had to hide the blueprints for a couple of days so he would eat and sleep properly…
"Just maintain safety and quality," Jin calmed them, sensing the underlying emotions. "If there are delays due to the weather or similar circumstances, unless it's one of the urgent red-marked projects, small delays are understandable. If you need help, don't hesitate to tell me or contact Asami."
Baatar nodded firmly.
The projects were divided in descending order of urgency: blue, green, yellow, and red. Fortunately, the reds were scarce—only six projects—but Baatar understood their urgency after reviewing them thoroughly.
The yellow projects were necessary for the kingdom's functionality—important works, but not vital as long as they weren't postponed for too long. These were the second most numerous.
The green ones were aimed at improving or renewing existing infrastructure, the most abundant by far. Jin had even seen some that hadn't been updated since Bumi's era!
Lastly, the blue ones were projects that would be helpful if accomplished, but could be postponed indefinitely to prioritize the others.
"How many can you start as soon as possible?"
"As we speak, I've sent people to inspect the sites," Baatar rubbed the beard on his chin with his thumb. "If the situation hasn't changed, three of the red projects (both in the north and the one in the east) will be finished in four months. The remaining ones require me to examine the sites personally to avoid any issues. As for the rest, my son Baatar Jr. has already started preparing proposals."
"That is more than enough," Jin nodded.
The northern projects were the most urgent, but if they could be resolved in that timeframe, it was tolerable.
"I hope you can stay for dinner before returning?"
"Absolutely!" Suyin nodded with a smile, hugging her husband's arm. "We're very interested in your idea about the magnets that Asami has been explaining."
Right, she had mentioned it several times.
"Good," Jin nodded, satisfied. "What is it, Opal?" he asked, turning his head.
He could vividly feel Opal rubbing the soles of her feet on the floor throughout the entire conversation with the family—utterly nervous. To Jin, it was like someone chewing something extremely crunchy right next to his ear the whole time; it was difficult to ignore and irritated him more than he would ever admit.
"Um… do you need help?"
Jin: ???
Beifong family: ???
The general looks of confusion told Opal she might have oversimplified the question in her head, and she rushed to explain herself.
Jin did not answer immediately—he was thinking whether Opal could truly help him. While living in his mansion, he had gotten to know her far more deeply than what the series showed.
Did he trust Opal? Absolutely. But he was also very aware that, being so young, she lacked experience regardless of where he placed her, and even after meeting more people by traveling with Tenzin, she still needed more social development.
Currently, Jin had two sectors he considered severely understaffed: the medical sector and the agri-food sector.
Ba Sing Se urgently needed to acquire or expand medical personnel training—if a pandemic broke out, charlatans and scammers would make a fortune, but the capital would not be able to handle it well.
Hou-Ting would enforce total quarantine if something like that happened. While effective most of the time, it also resulted in brutal consequences.
If Opal had medical knowledge even without being a waterbender, Jin wouldn't hesitate—but aside from first aid and basic healthy eating, she didn't know much else.
And beginning to learn what she needed would take too many years, even if he sent her to the medical institution he founded in the past.
That left…
"Perhaps there is something," Jin said. He needed to clarify some of Opal's knowledge in botany, management, and mathematics, but it wasn't impossible.
He wouldn't put her in charge directly like Asami and Zhu Li; they were already somewhat familiar with leadership and giving orders. With Opal, perhaps she could start by doing calculations to estimate crop yields while being trained by competent people.
"Really?!" Opal had only been testing the waters—she didn't expect a real opportunity.
"Yes, we'll talk about it after dinner."
"Ah, okay…"
Lin seized the chance to insert herself into the conversation.
"When can I start?" she asked bluntly. "I imagine my people and I will have plenty of work."
"Oh, you've no idea," Jin said. He needed his niece to use a firm hand with quite a few people—even now many openly challenged him with their grey-area behavior.
Fortunately for them, if Hou-Ting invested in anything, it was prisons.
They wouldn't have any problems with overcrowded cells here.
"You'll start tomorrow," Jin told her. "I want you all to finish settling in today, and tomorrow I'll show you every change that's going to be made and the points you need to keep in mind," he explained. "Also, remember to use what my little sister taught you more often."
The use of ground and lie detection had improved and become more frequent with Jin's reminders, but Lin still hadn't turned them into a true habit.
In Republic City, this would have been an oversight, but in Ba Sing Se, it could result in a major mistake.
"If you want to start sooner, you can catch up with Kyoshi."
Since Kyoshi was in charge of the Dai Li, she would be working closely with Lin on several occasions in the future.
"…Fine." Lin couldn't refute any of that and went to get herself a drink.
Conversation done, Jin went over to Korra, Tenzin, and their family.
"Should I call you Your Majesty now?" joked the Avatar, trying to casually gauge the attitude of the new king.
"Do that, Korra, and before you know it, you'll be catapulted out the window by my own foot," Jin replied with a smile. "You can reserve any snobbish behavior for formal occasions, but this isn't one of them."
Tenzin nodded subtly.
"Ugh, fine." Korra straightened her back in relief, hands on her hips. "You know, I thought—and feared—the power might've gone to your head."
"Not likely," Jin dismissed.
Managing a kingdom was like managing a business, only on a larger scale—something he was very good at.
"So it was possible?" Korra thought, suddenly sweating at the idea of Jin going mad from his rise to power.
"Tell me, Korra, do you also suspect I had something to do with the previous queen's death, or do you approve of my situation?" Jin asked, openly curious. "Just to be clear, I'm asking you in your capacity as the Avatar."
"No journalists?" Korra raised a brow, looking around to avoid any sensationalist ambushes.
"You think I'd need to lure you into a media trap?" Jin praised inwardly the cautious sense Korra had started to develop.
"I guess not…" Korra looked away, embarrassed. "But I'm sure you had nothing to do with the queen's death." She grimaced. "I mean, choking to death on an olive pit? That is bad luck…"
Jin had to hold back a very strong urge to laugh.
"As for your situation… if half the things I've heard about Hou-Ting are even partially true, I don't think it could get any worse," she said, shrugging.
Jin "stared" at her.
"I mean—what I mean is, you're doing a much better job as king than she ever did as queen!" she tried to recover—not that it helped. "Uh, you have my Avatar seal of approval?"
She could feel her face heating up.
Someone interrupt them, anyone!
Tenzin sighed beside her, trying not to facepalm in front of everyone.
Korra had improved greatly since arriving in Republic City, but politics and diplomacy were still by far her weakest point.
In fact, why did such a massive vulnerability appear in Korra?
Had the White Lotus skipped lessons or something?!
But he was far too busy now between family matters and the new airbenders.
And clearly Jin couldn't clear his schedule to teach her—it would be a long, long undertaking.
But who?
Better avoid people like President Raiko.
Jinora was too young.
Tenzin's gaze shifted toward the Metal Clan—more specifically, to his student.
Hmm. Opal was well trained in etiquette from a young age and got along with Korra—perhaps he should ask her to teach Korra the basics?