Dramatic changes in the movies and TV shows

Chapter 1489 Undercurrents
After hearing what the second concubine said, Jin Quan's heart stirred, and an idea unconsciously popped into his mind.

But he was somewhat conflicted. On the one hand, he could still maintain his political standing, but on the other hand, it would be somewhat undignified to have his daughter sacrifice herself; he wasn't Bai Xiongqi.

A few days later, Jin Yanxi brought Leng Qingqiu back to the Jin family to introduce her to the family members.

Jin Quan also learned a bit about Leng Qingqiu and felt that although the girl came from a poor family, she was quite knowledgeable and reasonable.

Although her family background was not as good as Bai Xiuzhu's, it was not a disgrace to the Jin family.

Moreover, the other women in the family had no objections to Leng Qingqiu, so he agreed to the marriage.

So, not long after, the Jin family sent out their invitations.

The wedding invitations for Jin Yanxi and Leng Qingqiu were also sent out one after another.

The bright red and gold-embossed postcards bore the names "Jin Yanxi" and "Leng Qingqiu" side by side, the ink still fresh.

Jin Yanxi wrote several copies by hand, and his handwriting was much neater than usual. This was Leng Qingqiu's request. She said that marriage is a big event and the handwriting cannot be messy. He rarely listened to her.

On the day the invitation was delivered to the Bai family, Bai Xiuzhu was sitting in the living room, flipping through a book called "Financial Warfare," which Lin Hao had recommended to her, so she naturally wanted to read it carefully.

The maid placed the invitation on the coffee table and carefully explained that it was a wedding invitation from the seventh young master of the Jin family.

After Bai Xiuzhu dismissed her, she opened the book and stared at the familiar name for several seconds without saying a word.

After shaking her head, Bai Xiuzhu closed the invitation, placed it on the table beside her, and continued reading.

Bai Xiongqi came out of the study, saw the invitation on the coffee table, picked it up, glanced at it, and put it back without any expression on his face.

For some reason, seeing Jin Yanxi's wedding invitation didn't stir any emotion in her heart.

But she understood that if it were before she and Lin Hao were officially in a relationship, she might have been heartbroken.

However, now that she has a lover, Jin Yanxi is no longer important to her, so she can no longer say whether she loves or hates him.

"Brother!" Bai Xiuzhu suddenly said, "I won't be attending the Jin family's wedding!"

Bai Xiongqi glanced at her, then, thinking of his sister's relationship with Lin Hao, nodded and said:
"It's better not to go. It would be awkward for everyone if we went, so it's better not to go!"

However, the Bai family, or rather Bai Xiongqi, changed their attitude towards Jin Quan from that day onwards.

He used to be Jin Quan's protégé, and he was always very respectful to Jin Quan, addressing him as "my mentor" repeatedly.

Why be so respectful to him? To put it bluntly, if Jin Quan hadn't promoted him, it wouldn't have been easy for him to go far based solely on his family background.
He worked diligently in the Ministry of the Interior, but once he reached the position of Vice Minister, that was basically the end of his career.

If it weren't for Lin Hao's appearance, he would probably still be stuck in the position of deputy minister for a while longer.

But he also understood that his rise from deputy minister to chief minister was purely due to Lin Hao's influence, and that advancing further would be extremely difficult.

This is also why he was so insistent on marrying into the Kim family. The Kim family was also happy to have such an advantage, making it a mutually beneficial political arrangement.

But after Jin Yanxi and Leng Qingqiu got engaged, Jin Quan never said a decent word to him.

Without asking what would happen to Xiuzhu or where the Bai family's reputation would be, he finally understood that the Bai family was nothing in Jin Quan's eyes.

Although Bai Xiongqi didn't care who his sister married, the Jin family's attitude was truly disheartening.

Jin Quan didn't even bother with such formalities, which shows that in Jin Quan's eyes, he was no longer someone who needed to be won over.

He rolled over, sighed at the ceiling, and muttered:

"Fine, teacher, if you don't take me seriously, then I don't need to take you seriously either."

······
In fact, Bai Xiongqi didn't even need to deal with Jin Quan, as Jin Quan had no interest in dealing with the Bai family anymore.

Let alone the Bai family, they couldn't even care about Jin Yanxi's marriage, so how could they care what Bai Xiongqi was thinking?

Because he was in quite a bit of trouble. After being promoted to Vice Minister of the Beiyang Army, the former Minister of the Interior, Lord Shen, made quite a stir.

He had worked with Jin Quan for many years, always maintaining a polite facade, but his underhanded actions never stopped.

The Ministry of Finance is Lin Hao's territory, and he can't place anyone there. The Ministry of the Army can be considered his stronghold, where he has many old friends and subordinates who support him.

He gradually began to infiltrate sectors such as transportation, agriculture, and commerce, and his people were active in various places, which basically overlapped with Jin Quan's sphere of influence.

Looking at the entire Beiyang Army, no matter how you look at it, Jin Quan was the only easy target.

These people usually keep a low profile, but they can be mobilized at any time with just a call from Deputy Chief of Staff Shen.

Unlike Deputy Chief of Staff Shen, Jin Quan's faction mostly consisted of opportunists who would usually give him face.

Seeing how swiftly Deputy Chief of Staff Shen's offensive has progressed, my first reaction is to remain neutral and not take sides.

When one side gains the upper hand in the future, or one side becomes the final winner, all you need to do is step forward and pledge your loyalty, and always stand on the side of the victor.

This means that the Jin family's power is lacking support, and since they have no marriage alliance with the Bai family, they are beginning to falter.

He worked later and later in his study, with endless documents to read and phone calls to answer every day.

Mrs. Jin brought in a late-night snack and placed it on the table, but he didn't touch it.

"Master, about Yanxi's marriage...!"

“You and your wives should handle it!” Jin Quan interrupted her, saying in a flat tone, “I don’t have time for these things right now.”

Mrs. Jin opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but looking at Jin Quan's tired face, she swallowed her words.

······
next day
As Deputy Chief of Staff Shen passed by Jin Quan's office, he saw Jin Quan still busy with something, so he greeted him with a smile:
"Chief of Staff Jin, I heard your seventh son is getting married? Congratulations!"

"Vice Chief of Staff Shen!" Jin Quan said with a smile, "You must grace my son's wedding with your presence!"

But in his heart he was thinking, what is this guy plotting now? He's been keeping me so busy lately.

"Haha, definitely, definitely!" Deputy Chief of Staff Shen said with a smile, as if he had seen someone important.

"Just don't treat me like an unwelcome guest!"

After Deputy Chief of Staff Shen left, Jin Quan sat in his chair, staring at the documents on the table for a long time without moving, seemingly lost in thought.

After leaving Jin Quan's office, Deputy Chief of Staff Shen walked slowly towards Bai Xiongqi's office.

A passing clerk greeted him, and he nodded, a barely perceptible smile playing on his lips.

Upon arriving at the Internal Affairs Department floor, Bai Xiongqi's office door was only slightly ajar, so he didn't knock and simply pushed the door open and went in.

Bai Xiongqi was standing by the window smoking when he heard the door open. He turned around, paused for a moment, then put on a smiling face and said:
"Deputy Chief of Staff Shen, what brings you here?"

Deputy Chief of Staff Shen closed the door, sat down on the sofa, and lit a cigarette. As Bai Xiongqi's former superior, he had the right to put on airs.

However, he wasn't there to cause trouble, but rather to win over Bai Xiongqi. After all, if Jin Quan could find out something, he could naturally find out as well. "Chief Bai, what happened to your Xiuzhu and the seventh son of the Jin family?"

Bai Xiongqi's smile faded slightly: "She's marrying someone else, what can you do?"

"That's good!" Deputy Chief of Staff Shen exhaled a puff of smoke, looked at Bai Xiongqi from behind the smoke, and smiled as he said:
"I heard that President Lin is pursuing your Xiuzhu!"

Upon hearing this, Bai Xiongqi smiled but remained silent, because he was still unsure of the purpose behind his former boss's visit.
"I think you shouldn't be too picky, brother!" Deputy Chief of Staff Shen said with a smile.
"I think your sister and Chief Lin are a perfect match. They're a handsome couple, a match made in heaven!"

But Bai Xiongqi understood; it turned out that she was trying to win over her future brother-in-law.

He smiled, stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray, and sat down opposite Deputy Chief of Staff Shen.

"Deputy Chief of Staff Shen, please feel free to give me any instructions in the future."

"Haha, as expected of the person I've chosen!" Deputy Chief of Staff Shen patted Bai Xiongqi on the shoulder before laughing and saying:

"In the future, we will still need to work together in the Beiyang region!"

"Deputy Chief of Staff Shen, you're too kind. We're all from the Beiyang system, so it's only right that we look out for each other. By the way..."

The two quickly formed an alliance, which also meant that the Kim family's crisis was drawing ever closer.

······
Jin Quan was unaware that his top student had allied with his biggest rival.

Not only that, before Jin Yanxi and Leng Qingqiu's wedding could take place, Jin Yanxi caused trouble again, this time because of Ouyang Yujian.

Actually, no one in the Jin family knows that Ouyang Yujian is Jin Quan's son from his concubine's side.

Of course, Jin Quan was unaware at this time that it was his own son who had aborted his illegitimate child.

Ouyang Yujian's mother is named Ouyang Qian. Twenty years ago, she gave herself to him. When his parents found out, they kicked her out of the house. At that time, she was already pregnant.

Later, she raised her child alone. Ouyang Yujian was admitted to Yenching University, majoring in education. After graduation, he found a job at the Ministry of Education, where he did neither well nor poorly.

Jin Yanxi was unaware of all this. He only knew that Ouyang Yujian had feelings for Leng Qingqiu, sending her flowers and writing poems, constantly trying to impress her, which Jin Yanxi could not tolerate.

That afternoon, Jin Yanxi arranged to play football with some people, and Ouyang Yujian was also on the field.

Jin Yanxi kicked the ball, which hit Ouyang Yujian hard in the face.

Ouyang collapsed to the ground, covering his eyes, blood seeping from between his fingers, and everyone around him rushed over.

Jin Yanxi stood frozen in place, still holding the ball in his hand, not moving for a long time.

He didn't do it on purpose, but it wasn't exactly accidental either. He was definitely trying to teach the other person a lesson, but he didn't expect the ball to hit the other person's eye.

When Leng Qingqiu arrived at the hospital, Ouyang Yujian was lying in bed with his left eye bandaged.

She called Jin Yanxi into the corridor and said in a low, angry voice, "Jin Yanxi, you've gone too far."

Jin Yanxi opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but Leng Qingqiu didn't give him the chance. She turned around, went into the ward, and closed the door.

Jin Yanxi stood in the corridor and saw Leng Qingqiu sitting by Ouyang Yujian's bedside, pouring him water through the glass window in the door.

He clenched his fist, then relaxed it, and finally turned and left.

That evening, the hospital informed Ouyang Yujian that someone had already paid the treatment fee. Upon inquiry, he learned that it was Jin Yanxi who had paid it.

Jin Quan went to the hospital in person the next day. He stood at the door of the ward and glanced at the patient through the glass.

Ouyang Yujian was still asleep. Ouyang Qian sat on the edge of the bed, her face haggard and her hair slightly gray, clearly having suffered a lot over the years.

At this moment, she was still clutching a handkerchief in her hand, and there were tear stains at the corners of her eyes.

Upon seeing Ouyang Qian, Jin Quan was immediately startled and pushed the door open without hesitation, entering the room.

Ouyang Qian looked up, saw it was him, and her expression changed from surprise to indifference.

"Chief of Staff Kim, you've arrived." Her voice was calm, as if she were speaking to a stranger.

Jin Quan stood by the bed, looking at Ouyang Yujian's face, and felt a pang of sadness in his heart.

This child looks so much like him; his eyebrows and nose are just like his when he was young. He's practically a younger version of himself.

"Ouyang~, sister-in-law, how is the child's injury?" Jin Quan had calmed down by now and, considering his position, changed his words halfway through.

Ouyang Qian didn't look at him, but said calmly, "No need for Chief of Staff Jin to worry. The surgery fee has already been paid, so we don't owe anyone anything."

Jin Quan opened his mouth as if to say something, but Ouyang Qian had already lowered her head and ignored him.

He stood in the ward for a while, but finally had to turn around and leave.

Outside, he was the powerful Prime Minister of Beiyang, but in this hospital room, he was nothing.

After returning home, Jin Yanxi stood in the yard for a long time.

Moonlight spilled onto the bluestone pavement. He lowered his head, clutching a copper coin in his hand, turning it over and over.

Qingqiu's gaze towards him had changed; it was no longer the smiling, sparkling look she used to have, but cold.

He recalled Leng Qingqiu's panicked expression when she saw Ouyang was injured, and his heart felt even more heavy.

The next morning, Jin Quan called him into his study. Jin Quan didn't scold him, only saying, "Go to the hospital and apologize!"

"I'm not going!" Jin Yanxi turned her face away, looking unhappy, and said, "I didn't do anything wrong."

"You still dare to say you didn't do anything wrong?" Jin Quan angrily cursed him a few more times.

In the end, Jin Yanxi still went, because when Jin Quan saw his son, he still looked unconvinced, so he talked to him about the matter and analyzed it for him in detail.

Of course, it's impossible to know how much of this was genuine help for this son, or whether it was out of guilt that they were helping the other son.

Jin Yanxi was completely unaware of all this, taking it only as his father's protection and care for him.

After listening to his father's analysis, he finally understood his father's intentions and realized that his own methods were indeed too despicable.

Moreover, just as his father analyzed, if he didn't handle things properly, his wedding with Leng Qingqiu would only encounter unexpected twists and turns.

So the next day, Jin Yanxi sincerely came to the hospital to apologize.

Jin Yanxi stood by Ouyang Yujian's bedside for a full half minute before speaking:
"Brother Ouyang, I'm so sorry, it was my fault before... Anyway, don't worry, I'll cover all the medical expenses!"

Ouyang Yujian leaned against the bed, his left eye still bandaged. He glanced at Jin Yanxi, somewhat surprised by his frankness, but his attitude was unusually firm.

"Yanxi, I don't blame you, but you must understand that Qingqiu is not an object; you can't just take it and make it yours!"