Ren Baqian spent a lot of time and effort to make the empress roughly understand the significance of technology.
However, it was impossible for the empress to understand everything. Even if she was very smart, it was not possible for her to understand something that she had never seen or heard before within a short period of time, let alone challenge the enormous social system of this world.
Even an Earthling, who was influenced by technology every day, only had a rough idea about many things on Earth. Some ideas were even wrong.
Despite this, Ren Baqian still racked his brain to make the empress see the differences between Earth and Dayao.
"Your Majesty, I should send you back first. We have to let everyone know you're safe. I think everyone in the palace is worried sick about you now," Ren Baqian said, "If you want to explore the Earth, I can bring you here again in the future."
Since the empress was already here, Ren Baqian did not mind her coming here again in the future so long as she did not create trouble.
If he could control the time of teleportation to and fro between the Earth and that world, it would be largely beneficial to him. Firstly, he would have more freedom in terms of time. Secondly, he could use it to escape from danger. If his life was threatened, he could teleport back to Earth. Who in Dayao could pursue him all the way here? He simply wouldn't believe they would squat in the bush waiting to jump out and yell "Welcome!" when he returned to that world.
Upon hearing Ren Baqian's words, the empress nodded her head and replied, "Even though no one can hurt me, my sudden disappearance will indeed create chaos in the palace. It's better for me to go back first and inform them that I'm safe."
Ren Baqian understood what the empress meant by her words. She was trying to say that she wanted to come back and tour Earth after giving her subjects in Dayao a heads-up.
"Your Majesty, hold onto me," Ren Baqian instructed the empress. He felt a pair of soft, delicate hands holding on to his wrists.
"Return to that world, return to that world, return to that world…" Ren Baqian chanted in his mind for some time. However, his surroundings were still in the state of calmness. He, nevertheless, remained where he originally was.
"Return to Dayao, return to the palace, return to that place…" Ren Baqian continued to chant in his heart. However, his surroundings still did not change at all. He and the empress remained in their original spot.
A premonition arose in his heart.
He raised his head and looked at the empress. Her limpid eyes were looking right back at him.
"Return to that world, return to Dayao, return to the palace…" Ren Baqian closed his eyes and chanted out loud.
When he opened his eyes, he realized they were still on Earth, the empress was still looking at him, and her hands were still holding on his wrists.
"Your Majesty, I'm afraid we can't go back for the time being. I think I'm not fully charged yet…" Ren Baqian had an embarra.s.sed look on his face.
This was the only possible explanation.
Ren Baqian hoped this wouldn't be the case forever. Otherwise, he would be in deep trouble.
In accordance with his past teleportation experience, he would return to that world in three days' time. However, he still felt that it was better for him to send the empress back as soon as possible. The earlier she returned to that world, the more relieved he would feel.
He wondered just how chaotic the situation in the palace was now.
"Forget it then, let them wait a while. I can make use of this opportunity to see how loyal they are to me," the empress let go of Ren Baqian's hands and said.
She did not seem to mind at all.
Ren Baqian felt helpless. He had no choice but to bring the empress to explore this world.
"This is a toilet bowl, it's for relieving yourself. Place the seat down and seat on it. After you have relieved yourself, press this b.u.t.ton to flush it."
"This is a faucet."
"This is switch to turn on the light."
"This is a fridge, it's used to store food. Your Majesty, do you want to eat ice cream?" Ren Baqian took a whole milk ice cream from the fridge. "Your Majesty, have a taste. This thing is made of ice but it tastes very good. It's usually eaten to relieve summer heat."
While eating the ice cream, the empress followed Ren Baqian around his house.
"Your Majesty, you can watch the television. This is part of the internet I was talking about just now. You can use it to see images from distant places."
Ren Baqian switched on the television and the vicious fangs of a crocodile greeted him.
Ren Baqian's heart skipped a beat. He was afraid that the empress would slap the television out of shock. If that really happened, the wall behind the television would be destroyed, let alone the television.
After all, the empress had never seen a television before. It was possible that she would react strongly to it.
To his surprise, the empress did not show any reactions. She sat on the sofa and ate her ice cream as she looked at the crocodile on the television. Then, she said, "It looks as though it lives in the box."
"This image is filmed using a special equipment and then shown through the television," Ren Baqian explained.
"This animal can be found in Dayao. A huge one is roughly 4 feet long, much bigger than the one in this television. It's not really powerful, but it always hides in the water, making it difficult to hunt."
Ren Baqian made some mental calculations in his head. 4 feet should be roughly equivalent to 13 meters. The crocodiles in Dayao were much bigger than Earth's.
Whichever world one was in, a crocodile would always be a fearsome creature. However, for those aboriginals, that could tear down a city wall with one hand, a crocodile posed zero threat to them.
No wonder the empress did not show any reaction.
Ren Baqian switched to other channels. Other than advertis.e.m.e.nts, there were only television series and repet.i.tive variety shows. He reckoned that the empress wasn't interested in these types of channels. He wanted to let the empress watch Xinwen Lianbo so that she could know more about this world.
[Xinwen Lianbo - a daily news program produced by China Central Television (CCTV).]
Ren Baqian then decided to find some movies for the empress to watch. Eventually, he found the war film Pearl Harbor for the empress. He recalled that it was a large-scale movie. He had to let her know that the technologies of Earth play a significant role in wars in addition to providing daily convenience.
This could save him some trouble in the future.
After all, the empress was a domineering and egotistical individual and now she was going to stay here for a few days. If she really wanted to go out to explore, Ren Baqian was afraid that she might invite trouble. If that really happened, it wouldn't be easy to sort things out.
Therefore, he chose this movie to let the empress experience the might of the technologies on Earth, hoping that it would humble her. He would emphasize this point again after the movie had ended.
"Your Majesty, this is a very old war film. I feel that you should take a look at it. The weapons nowadays are much more powerful than the ones shown in this film." Ren Baqian fast-forwarded the video to the part where j.a.panese forces invaded Pearl Harbor as he spoke.
"Are they humans too?" The empress was stunned when she saw the characters in the movie.
"They are white men and black men." Ren Baqian gave the empress a brief explanation about the three races shown on the screen.
Very soon, the scene of j.a.panese planes caught the attention of the empress. "These things can fly in the air? They look somewhat like those sc.r.a.p metals. It's just that those sc.r.a.p metals can't carry humans in the sky," the empress gave her evaluation.
"Are the sc.r.a.p metals she's talking about the spirit swords?" Ren Baqian thought to himself.
Ren Baqian gave a bitter smile and said, "Your Majesty, hold on. Let me tidy up upstairs first."
After going upstairs, when Ren Baqian saw the two holes on the window and he door, he hung two blankets over them. Doing so could at least block the wind from blowing into the house.
Then, he began to sweep and mop the floor. Following which, he tidied up his room.
At this moment, various sounds of guns and explosions came from the television downstairs. The empress's eyes were filled with interest and fascination as she looked at the images on the television.
...
At this moment, Ren Baqian's mum and dad were sitting on the sofa and staring at each other.
"Did you see that girl just now?" Ren Baqian's mum asked.
"Is she a movie star?" Ren Baqian's dad asked as he rubbed his chin.
"Your son has a girlfriend."
"You don't need to worry about him anymore."
"This relations.h.i.+p will not work, that girl is too pretty, she isn't suitable to be our daughter-in-law. Furthermore, even though I just took a glance at her just now, I can see the cold look on her face. Her personality definitely isn't good."
"This is our son's personal affair, let him choose his girlfriend himself. He is old enough to have his own opinions," Ren Baqian's dad shook his head and said.
"No matter what, as parents, we still have to keep a lookout for him, right? Previously, he lied to me about wanting to meet that girl. In the end, that girl waited for one week, and he never even gave her a single call. Now, whenever her aunt sees me, she treats me as though I'm her enemy," Ren Baqian's mum grumbled.
"Don't worry too much. If he is free, I will ask him bring the girl back for us to take a look."