"Mercy?" Li Xueyue sharply repeated. She reached down and harshly yanked Lady Ge Beining's jaw up.
Though Lady Ge Beining winced in pain, she could not tear her eyes away from the Crown Princess. Gold and gems glistened off of the Crown Princess's hairpins, a halo of wealth. But her eyes were anything but heavenly. It was a ringlet of fury, a circle of fire, a flame so bright that even the ocean could not put out.
"Would you have shown my child mercy?"
"I—"
"Would you have shown my maidservant mercy?"
"Princess—"
Li Xueyue tossed Lady Ge Beining back onto the ground. Her hair swayed, strands covering her face.
"Would you have shown me mercy?"
Lady Ge Beining could not speak. Her limbs trembled with shock, her eyes wide. Never. She would've never shown anyone mercy—not in this lifetime, not in the next.
