Eighth Young Master Qin Zhaoer, Brutally Torturing the Bratty Girl

The maid immediately stepped forward half a pace, shielding Ye Jianwei behind her: "Eighth Young Master, this person belongs to the Ninth Young Master."

"Hmm~?" Qin Zhaoer tapped her toes, her golden silk skirt swirling open. She suddenly leaned in close to the maid, her fingertips twirling a lock of hair, her eyes narrowing with a hint of dangerous, spoiled arrogance: "Are you trying to stop me?"

The maid lowered her head immediately: "I wouldn't dare..."

She was not an attendant of Qin Wangchuan, but rather belonged to the Immortal Ship Platform, the type of servant anyone could command.

Naturally, she dared not provoke these Young Masters.

Qin Zhaoer let out a soft huff and skipped around to stand in front of Ye Jianwei.

"Wow~ so it's actually a pitiful little blind girl." Her sugary voice carried a deliberate note of pity, but in the next instant, her expression shifted.

"Why!"

Why should a five-year-old child receive such favoritism from the Old Ancestor? Why was everyone else ranked at the first position, while he was at the zeroth position, and even received a Divine Seed?

Where exactly was she inferior to him?!

The more Qin Zhaoer thought about it, the angrier she became. She bit her lower lip hard, recalling what her mother had said—

'Zhaoer, your talent is good, but unfortunately, compared to Wangchuan, you are destined to be nothing more than a green leaf...' The rest remained unsaid, but that sigh was more piercing than any words.

"A blind girl..." Qin Zhaoer suddenly lowered her voice, venom seeping into her sweet tone, "is she even fit to enter my Qin Clan?"

"I..." Ye Jianwei's voice was hoarse. Her thin, withered fingers tightened abruptly, her nails digging into her palms.

She desperately wanted to retort, but could not utter a single word.

This silence gave the perfect opportunity for an outburst.

"Insolent!" a guard behind Qin Zhaoer barked, a massive pressure descending like a mountain.

However, before the pressure could land, it was dispersed by another surge of force.

"It is you who are insolent!"

An angry shout exploded like a thunderclap.

Qin Zhaoer and her guard were caught off guard and slammed down onto the Cyan Jade Tiles. Their hairpins clattered to the ground and their robes were stained with dust; the arrogant demeanor from moments ago was completely gone.

She struggled to lift her head, meeting the icy gaze of Qin Wangchuan.

"Eighth Sister." A clear, cold child's voice, like a freezing spring striking jade, made everyone's heart tremble!

Qin Zhaoer forced a smile, her voice cloyingly sweet: "Ninth Brother~ Sister was just helping you discipline an unruly servant!"

Qin Wangchuan approached slowly with his guards. Though the five-year-old child's figure was not tall, those eyes made everyone present feel their hair stand on end.

Even among the Young Masters, the caliber of their guards varied greatly, and Qin Wangchuan had always been surrounded by the very best.

"Young Master..." Tears welled up in Ye Jianwei's hollow eyes, and her chapped lips trembled slightly. That single call held a multitude of emotions—from despair to grievance, from helplessness to relief—like a lost young beast finally catching the scent of home.

"It's alright now." Qin Wangchuan reached out to brush through her withered hair.

Those few short words caused Ye Jianwei's tense spine to suddenly relax.

He turned his head to look at Qin Zhaoer.

"Eighth Sister, you certainly have quite the air of authority, lecturing my people."

"Truly impressive."

Qin Wangchuan's youthful, childish voice carried a hint of playful mockery, yet his eyes, deep as a sea of stars, were frosted over with ice.

He gave a subtle look to the guards behind him, and the pressure that had been hanging over Qin Zhaoer and her group instantly dissipated.

Qin Zhaoer looked up, feeling guilty, and met that pair of cold eyes—

She gave two awkward laughs almost instinctively. As her throat bobbed, a fine layer of cold sweat began to seep from her temples.

Having interacted with her before as a fellow Young Master, Qin Wangchuan knew that Eighth Young Master Qin Zhaoer wasn't actually a bad person; she was just immature, spoiled, and rude, with a particular tendency to exclude others.

Even though she was an older sister, she acted just like a brat from his past life.

He had disciplined her a few times before, but it seemed she hadn't learned her lesson.

"Since you know you were wrong, then accept your punishment."

As soon as Qin Wangchuan's youthful voice fell, Qin Zhaoer's pupils constricted, and her fingertips, stained with nail polish, unconsciously clutched at her skirt.

It wouldn't be that, would it?

Just as she was thinking this.

Two female guards immediately stepped forward, pinning Qin Zhaoer from the left and right.

"You... what are you doing?" Qin Zhaoer's voice rose sharply, a flicker of panic flashing in her phoenix eyes. "How dare you! I am the Eighth Young Master!"

Before her voice had even faded, the two female guards bowed neatly. "Please forgive us, Eighth Young Master."

With that, they held her arms from either side, their movements respectful yet impossible to resist.

Seeing the guards unmoved, she raised her voice toward Qin Wangchuan. "I am your sister!"

"Precisely because of that, you require discipline all the more." Qin Wangchuan took a jade ruler from a guard's hand. "Twenty strikes, a small punishment to serve as a warning."

Qin Zhaoer's face turned deathly pale, and she struggled to break free. "No... no! I'm already this old..."

"You cannot strike the Peigu!"

This jade ruler is named Jiexin, an ancestral disciplinary artifact of the Qin Clan.

Though it does not harm the flesh in the slightest, it strikes directly at the soul. No matter how heaven-defying your cultivation may be, you cannot escape this bone-piercing, heart-wrenching pain.

Qin Wangchuan used this to strike her last time!

The female guard did not care about any of this; with nimble movements, she pinned her down and held her in her arms.

A corner of her scarlet silk skirt was lifted.

The surrounding guards and maids turned their heads in tacit understanding, not daring to look further.

"Snap!"

The jade ruler landed on the Peigu, emitting a crisp sound.

Qin Zhaoer's body shuddered, and the tips of her ears turned bright red instantly.

"Qin Wangchuan! You... ah!"

"Is it really worth it for a blind man!"

"Snap!"

The second strike was heavier. Qin Zhaoer bit her lip, her eyes already turning red.

As the jade ruler fell again and again, Qin Zhaoer transitioned from her initial angry cursing to soft sobbing.

By the fifteenth strike, she finally could not help but beg for mercy:

"Ninth Brother... I know I was wrong... I truly know I was wrong..."

"Where were you wrong?"

A sob escaped Qin Zhaoer's throat. "I was wrong to bully a blind man..."

"Snap!"

The jade ruler fell once more. Qin Zhaoer's entire body jolted violently, her slender waist suddenly tensing straight. Her ten fingers gripped the guard's clothes tightly, her knuckles turning pale.

She bit her crimson lips hard, moisture welling up in the corners of her eyes.

The moment the jade ruler fell, the intense pain felt like fire scorching her body, yet it instantly transformed into a strange, numbing sensation.

It was just like last time, carrying a hint of indescribable pleasure, as if thousands of ants were crawling beneath her skin, itching all the way from the point of punishment into the depths of her heart.

"You were wrong to bully someone who belongs to me."

"My person..."

This sentence struck Ye Jianwei's chaotic world like a thunderbolt, leaving her eardrums buzzing.

Her hollow eyes widened slightly, and her chapped lips trembled unconsciously.

The beatings she had endured and the verbal abuse she had heard in Qixia Town suddenly felt distant.

Replacing them was a subtle sense of... peace.

Qin Wangchuan stopped only after delivering twenty strikes. He put away the jade ruler and looked at Qin Zhaoer: "Remember the lesson of today."

When Qin Zhaoer was helped up, tear tracks still stained her face, but she no longer dared to act out.

She suppressed the strange feeling in her heart, clutched her burning backside, and sobbed, "Wuu... I, I know already!"

"I hate Ninth Brother the most!"

She suddenly stomped her foot, shouted this through her tears, and turned to leave. The jade pendants at her waist jingled chaotically, and she nearly tripped over her own long hem.

The guards scrambled to support her, but she shook them off. Before leaving, she glared fiercely at Ye Jianwei—her expression like a cat with its fur standing on end, baring its teeth even while in a wretched state.

Qin Wangchuan watched her retreating back and said to Ye Jianwei:

"In a sense, this place is ten or a hundred times more dangerous than the outside world, so do not harbor any illusions of luck."

Qin Wangchuan's youthful voice carried a coldness that did not match his age. He turned to look at her: "Tomorrow, I will teach you how to cultivate. Become strong. Become someone no one can bully, someone no one dares to bully."

The spine that Ye Jianwei had just straightened now lost all its resolve.

She slowly bent her knees, pressed her forehead against the cold floor tiles, and spoke in a voice that was soft yet firm:

"I shall obey your every command, Young Master..."

The future Heavenly Emperor swore silently in her heart. This was the first time, and it would be the last time, she would hide behind the Young Master.

Next time, and forever after, it would be her turn to protect him.