Outside Yu Yi’s door, footsteps echoed once more.
“This time she’s finally coming,” she thought quietly.
This was the second time Yu Yi had heard movement outside.
If both sets of footsteps belonged to Su Cheng, then clearly the first time she hadn’t come straight to her Master.
She had gone to prepare something first.
Sure enough, Su Cheng’s voice drifted through the door.
“Master, your disciple is coming in.”
“Come in,”
Yu Yi replied calmly.
With a soft creak, the door eased open.
Su Cheng stepped inside barefoot, the cool floorboards pressing against her soles as she walked straight to Yu Yi.
The moment Yu Yi saw how Su Cheng was dressed, her expression changed.
Su Cheng was wearing the exact same outrageously revealing outfit that had been on Yun Qianxue earlier.
Compared to Yun Qianxue, Su Cheng’s frame—slender when clothed—became far more arresting once bared.
Her limbs were long and delicate, her waist curved with devastating precision.
Normally she kept herself covered tightly, but in this garment every graceful line of her body was on shameless display.
If she ever slipped into something skin-tight, the effect would be even more breathtaking, another level of lethal beauty entirely.
Watching Su Cheng shed her usual quiet restraint like a seal breaking, transforming from demure to sultry and beguiling, Yu Yi felt a flicker of unfamiliarity—and beneath it, an involuntary thought: Perhaps this is who she really is.
“Master, how do I look?”
Su Cheng wore a dazed, lovesick smile.
Her pale toes curled and uncurled nervously against the floor.
Excitement trembled beneath her anxiety as she asked in a low voice.
“Su Cheng, you’ve grown up,”
Yu Yi said plainly, the most immediate truth she could voice.
Then her tone deepened.
“But why are you wearing the Cloud Family Young Lady’s clothes?”
“Your disciple just had a little heart-to-heart with that Young Lady,”
Su Cheng said, twisting her fingers together shyly.
“She told me you chose this dress for her personally, Master. Since you like this style… why look to someone else? Let your disciple wear it instead. I’ve always taken good care of my skin, kept my figure in shape. I won’t lose to anyone.”
Yu Yi felt a headache coming on.
Choosing that revealing outfit for Yun Qianxue really hadn’t been her true intention.
Though she didn’t exactly dislike it, either.
What she hadn’t expected was for Su Cheng’s jealousy to run this deep—deep enough that she would steal someone else’s clothes just to prove herself.
“So you believe your Master deliberately dressed the Cloud Family Young Lady that way to indulge some private desire?”
Yu Yi asked evenly.
“Your disciple… would never think such a thing.”
Su Cheng’s voice faltered.
She dropped her gaze.
“And I sensed you attempting to stir the power of the Heart of the Firm Rock Jade. Were you trying to harm the Cloud Family Young Lady just now?”
Yu Yi shook her head slowly.
“Su Cheng, you’ve gone too far. Have you forgotten everything I taught you before?”
“Master said… never harm the innocent. Your disciple… hasn’t forgotten.”
Su Cheng bowed her head even lower.
She truly hadn’t forgotten.
She had simply classified Yun Qianxue as an enemy.
Everyone’s definition of “enemy” is different.
In hindsight, perhaps it wasn’t so strange that Yun Qianxue had fallen into that category for Su Cheng.
Yet Su Cheng had her own judgment.
Some enemies deserved death.
Others did not.
That was why she had ultimately spared the girl.
The contradiction left Yu Yi momentarily unsure how to judge her.
Still—regardless of rights and wrongs—some lessons needed reinforcement.
She sighed.
“Su Cheng. Come here.”
Su Cheng obeyed without hesitation, stepping meekly in front of her.
“Master… are you going to punish me?”
“This punishment isn’t for what happened with the Cloud Family Young Lady.”
Yu Yi’s voice turned stern.
“It’s for disrespecting your Honored Master.”
Su Cheng had assumed Yu Yi dressed Yun Qianxue that way to satisfy her own desires.
To think so little of her Master was, by definition, disrespectful—and therefore punishable.
“Take off the clothes. Then lie across my lap.”
Su Cheng complied silently.
She shed the garment, left herself bare, and draped herself over Yu Yi’s thighs.
What followed was a familiar, methodical spanking.
Sometimes Yu Yi wondered if this method had grown too repetitive.
Next time, perhaps something new.
When the punishment ended, Su Cheng said nothing.
She simply stood to the side, head bowed in perfect obedience.
No reward.
Only correction.
She must be disappointed.
Even so, Yu Yi felt no regret.
The girl desperately needed discipline.
That said… leaving the door unlocked all night—what kind of “reward” was that supposed to be?
“Su Cheng.”
Yu Yi called her name while slipping out of her own robe.
She pressed one arm across her proud chest in a futile attempt at modesty, then held out the garment with her other hand.
“Going back to your room naked isn’t proper. Wear my clothes for now. Once you’re back in your own room, change into something of yours, then return mine—and make sure you return the Cloud Family Young Lady’s dress as well.”
Su Cheng took the robe.
The lost look on her face softened into a faint, hopeful smile.
She accepted the garment, then said,
“But… it’s snowing so heavily outside. My clothes got soaked on the way here. They won’t dry anytime soon. Could your disciple… perhaps keep wearing Master’s for a little longer?”
“And what about me?”
Yu Yi frowned.
“Master can wear the one Miss Yun was wearing.”
Su Cheng gestured toward the scandalously revealing dress she had just taken off and neatly folded nearby.
A meaningful smile curved her lips.
“Miss Yun didn’t want to lend it to me at first… but if it’s Master asking, surely she won’t mind?”
Yu Yi: “…”
Wait.
Something felt deeply off.
Had this little minx played her again?
“If Master doesn’t say anything, your disciple will take that as agreement, alright? Good night then, beloved Master. Sweet dreams. See you in the morning~”
Su Cheng beamed, gave a perfectly respectful bow, and slipped out of the room with alarming speed.
“Hey—get back here, you brat!!”
Yu Yi called after her.
Su Cheng didn’t even pause.
She was clearly prepared to accept whatever punishment came next.
Yu Yi stared at the revealing dress lying innocently on the side table and pressed a hand to her forehead.
“Everything just now… was it all part of her plan?”
For Su Cheng, this counterattack had been an utter triumph.
Not only had she claimed a robe still warm from Yu Yi’s body—she would also get to see her Master wearing that shamelessly provocative outfit come morning.
Su Cheng was thoroughly satisfied.
Yu Yi’s anger, meanwhile, was steadily rising.
She had already made up her mind.
“This wretched disciple… the moment I think of a brand-new punishment, you’ll be the first to taste it.”
With that thought, Yu Yi rose from the bed and slipped into the scandalous garment.
She stepped in front of the mirror.
One glance at her reflection sent heat rushing to her face, her pulse thundering in her ears.
“…This is way too indecent?!”