Xiao Qingyan smiled back, walked over to Ji Jiangshen, glanced at the young man, and said to Ji Jiangshen with an unhappy face, "Why did you leave him here?"

"Now is the time to use people." Ji Jiangshen explained with a smile.

Xiao Qingyan still had a stern face: "He almost hurt Ah Zhi, so we can't use him no matter who we use."

Ji Jiangshen paused and said, "Yan'er, that happened many years ago."

Xiao Qingyan looked at Ji Jiangshen quietly for a long moment. After a moment's pause, she said, "You can stay, but you have to keep a close eye on him."

"Of course." Ji Jiangshen said with a smile.

Xiao Qingyan glanced at Ji Jiangshen, turned around and walked towards the young man.

Upon seeing this, the young man quickly knelt on one knee and bowed to Xiao Qingyan, saying, "The sinner Yuan Qin pays homage to the Queen Mother."

However, Xiao Qingyan didn't even look at Yuan Qin and just walked away.

Yuan Qin did not feel embarrassed. He stood up and patted his clothes.

Ji Jiangshen took out a small porcelain bottle from his sleeve and threw it to Yuan Qin, saying, "Go back and apply the medicine."

Yuan Qin took the porcelain bottle and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty. Yuan Qin will take his leave."

As soon as Yuan Qin left, the eunuch arrived.

Ji Jiangshen was sitting leisurely in the yard drinking tea. When he saw the eunuch coming, he asked him to sit down and poured him a cup of tea.

The eunuch frowned slightly and looked at Ji Jiangshen hesitantly, wanting to say something.

Seeing the eunuch's expression, Ji Jiangshen smiled disapprovingly and said, "It seems you and Yuan Qin have already met."

The eunuch nodded slightly and said, "Well, I don't quite understand why we should keep him."

When Ji Xingzhi was captured in Linyi, the eunuch regretted it so much that he cursed Yuan Qin's ancestors for eighteen generations and almost went to dig up the Yuan family's ancestral graves!

Ji Jiangshen paused, lowered his eyelids slightly, and said, "When I was a child, my father once told me that there was a secret passage under the imperial city that led to the five states, and the entrance was right in the palace. I didn't believe it at the time. Later, because of my engagement with Miss Yuan, I went to the Yuan Mansion to visit Prime Minister Yuan. I accidentally heard him say the same thing as my father, but I didn't dare to listen more at the time, and I didn't know who he was talking to.

After ascending the throne, Mo Yan told me that there was indeed a secret passage under the imperial city, which could lead to the nine provinces.

Yuan Qin is the only heir of the Yuan family. His risky return at this time might be related to the secret passage. Rather than letting him cause trouble outside, it is better to keep him under our watchful eyes."

The eunuch frowned and thought for a long time before saying, "Is this secret passage only known to the emperor? Emperor Xiao was angered to death by the Regent at that time. Logically, there was no chance and he would not tell the Regent about the secret passage. So how did the Regent know about it?"

Ji Jiangshen took a sip of tea and said calmly, "Grand Eunuch, have you forgotten that Mo Yan is not an ordinary person? Naturally, he has extraordinary means."

The eunuch was slightly taken aback. How could he have forgotten? At that time, the Regent suddenly appeared in the Jingxin Palace and then disappeared just as suddenly, leaving him confused for a long time. Every day he wondered whether he had told him about the bond pendant.

Later, he figured it out. He should have said it, but he didn't know what the Regent did to him, and he couldn't remember it.

Putting his thoughts away, the eunuch nodded slightly, was silent for a moment, and suddenly asked: "Hasn't the bond pendant been found yet?"

Hearing this, Ji Jiangshen trembled slightly with the teacup in his hand, causing the tea in the cup to sway a few times, stirring up a layer of ripples.

Ji Jiangshen put down the teacup in his hand and whispered, "No."