Chapter 74 - A Blooming Of Lilies

Song Feng Mian was leaning against the wall for support when they came back. She wasn't expecting things to escalate this quick, though it was probably her choices that led to this.

"So," Song Feng Mian spoke out loud. "What choice did you decide to make?"

"We haven't decided yet," said Song Zihan.

Song Feng Mian was confused, they spent this much time talking and they didn't come to a conclusion? What did they even talk about then?

"What do you mean you haven't decided yet?" Feng Mian asked.

"It means we haven't decided, we'll conclude when the event is over. I want to see how the citizens will react, I'm sure you know what I mean," said Song Zihan.

Of course, Song Feng Mian understood, her mother was basically saying that since things could go two ways, the citizens would reject them, or the citizens would accept them. Therefore, her mother wanted to see how the citizens reacted first before making a choice..

"If that's how you want it then I'll make sure the citizens react positively." Song Feng Mian said with confidence. "Now, I need to head to the plaza now."

As Song Feng Mian brushed past them, Jia Xin Yi whispered to her that she's praying for their success. Feng Mian glanced at her and smiled in return, there was no way the citizens would react negatively.

Meanwhile, with Yu Yingyi, she was worried why Feng Mian still hasn't arrived at the plaza yet. She was going to have to start without her.

"What's taking her so long?" Yingyi muttered.

"Maybe she's having a bit of trouble, isn't Jia Yi with her?" Song Liya asked.

"No, Jia Yi is here with us. She's currently talking to the citizens to stall more time for Feng Mian to arrive." Yu Yingyi replied.

"Ah, so that's the case. Let's start the event now, we can't keep the citizens waiting. My sister will arrive later, she won't be late." said Song Liya.

Yu Yingyi reluctantly accepted, she wanted to wait for Feng Mian, but it seems time was ticking and they had to start.

"Are you both finished talking?" Jia Yi asked from above the stage.

"Yep, we're coming right now," said Yu Yingyi.

"Finally, I was getting thirsty."

Yingyi was in her disguise while Song Liya wore formal wear that was made of golden filament and decorated with pearls, turquoises, and jade ornaments. It made Liya look more even more attractive, not that she wasn't already attractive. Yingyi wanted Liya to devour her in that outfit.

'Ah, what am I thinking?! Such indecent thoughts shouldn't be allowed during an event.' thought Yu Yingyi fixing her composure.

"Let's go then."

"Yes!"

Yu Yingyi and Song Liya walked up the stairs and made it onto the stage. Their sight was filled with countless citizens, nobles with golden robes, and commoners with normal or ragged clothing. It was surprising they weren't split into two sides, instead, they were mixed with each other. The nobles seemed to care less about that, they were more focused on them.

Cheers came from the crowd, their voices were filled with excitement and anticipation for what's to come.

"WOOOOOO!"

"LIYA IS TOO DAZZLING!"

"THE PRINCE IS TOO HANDSOME!"

Yu Yingyi slightly bowed to show appreciation, it was honestly kind of nerve-wracking being in front of this many people. In her past life, it was already too much doing a presentation in front of her classmates. Where did she get such confidence from?

That was when she felt a light squeeze in her hand, turning towards Song Liya. "Is there something wrong?"

"Nothing, it's just that you looked nervous," said Song Liya. "Don't worry, I'm here with you. Just do your own thing like how you always did."

How could she forget? She had Liya with her, perhaps that's where her confidence came from. Warmth filled her as they both stared into the crowd.

It was time to start.

"Hello citizens of Huangdi, as you already know, I'm the one who started this event. I had an acquaintance of mine pass out the jades to you all since it would be hectic if I was the one who passed it out," said Yu Yingyi.

The crowd chuckled in agreement, who knew how many women would swarm Yingyi? It was hard to calculate.

"Today, I'm here with the princess, Song Liya, who is also my wife. First, why don't we appreciate how amazing she looks? It makes me embarrassed at how well she's dressed compared to me."

"I agree!"

"The princess looks amazing!"

"It's okay, prince! You're still handsome!"

"Ahaha," Yu Yingyi chuckled. "Thank you for the compliment, but I didn't gather you all to say how pretty my wife is. I'm here cause I have an important announcement to make."

The crowd went silent, they were waiting for her to continue.

"Because of something, I couldn't reveal my true self to you all and I had to lie to you all ever since I became the prince," said Yingyi.

There were murmurs throughout the crowd, their expressions held confusion since they had no idea what she was talking about.

Yu Yingyi held onto the hairpin that held her wig together with her hair. She took in a deep breath and let it out before glancing at Liya who nodded and smiled.

"Well, I'll let you all see for yourself."

With one hand on the hairpin, the other hand was held onto the tie on the back of her clothing. With one swift move, the hairpin, the wig, and her cloak dropped onto the ground.

Yu Yingyi's hair that went past her shoulders came into view, but that was not the only thing though. She wore a red and golden dress that was decorated with dragons to represent a city. The fact that she was a woman was revealed and the citizens saw it.

Song Liya stared at Yingyi in amazement, how could someone look this amazing? Her heart was skipping more and more beats the longer she stared at her. Perhaps her heart was going to leap out of her chest, it felt like an arrow pierced her heart. She fell in love all over again.

However, Yu Yingyi wasn't worried about the way she dressed, she was worried about the citizen's reaction.

Silence fell upon the crowd, they were speechless. Since they never expected something like this nor have they experienced something like this, they didn't know how to react. This was the first time in history that the prince was actually a princess.

Yu Yingyi grew worried when the citizens weren't saying anything, however, she was reassured when there were cheers near the back end of the crowd. Her eyes trailed in the direction of the cheers as familiar figures came into view.

"We support you!"

"No matter who you are, you still helped us!"

"We still have a for to return!"

Mei Xiang was there amongst the cheers, the two adults in children's bodies were too...her eyes sparkled again when she saw the children with who she played Badminton with came into sight.

She was surprised at how they were able to make it all the way here, but it soon made sense when she saw the people behind the children. They were all the commoners- no, they were all the citizens that Yingyi helped.

Yu Yingyi felt relieved that her efforts weren't in vain.

Soon enough, cheers came from all of the citizens. They felt like things weren't going to be any different despite Yingyi being a woman. Regardless of the gender, a person was still a person, a change like this wasn't going to harm anyone.

A majority of the citizens were supportive, but there were always people who weren't going to accept them for who they were.

"Disgusting!"

"A woman should only love a man!"

"This is unacceptable!"

Their voices were made clear, after all, they were the only ones who were unsupportive of the situation. The supportive citizens turned back to the prince who was now a princess to see her reaction, but there wasn't a change at all.

Yu Yingyi expected this, no matter how good things are, there will always be a bad thing. This was one of the cases, that's why she was prepared for it.

"It doesn't matter if a female loves a female or a male loving another male. Gender shouldn't be the reason people of the same genders shouldn't be allowed to love one another. Love is meant for everyone, that's why things like this shouldn't be viewed as disgusting. After all, it's the same thing as a male loving a female."

The crowd erupted into cheers after that, unknown to Yingyi, there were people of the same gender who loved each other but couldn't reveal themselves since they were afraid of what other people who think of them.

With this announcement, they felt a huge weight was lifted off their shoulders.

This marked the beginning of the Blooming of Lillies.

Yu Yingyi smiled at the crowd, after all this time, she was finally able to make this event a reality. Right as she was about to calm down, a pair of a hand cupped her face and soft lips could be felt on her lips.

Once again, her heart started beating rapidly, though this wasn't because of the nervousness, it was because of the overflowing feeling of joy and love.

Despite the loud cheers around them, it felt like everything was silent.

Time stopped flowing, only she and Liya existed at this moment.

"You did it, Yingyi."

"I know, I couldn't have done it without you."

"I love you."

"I love you too."