Chapter 167: Taking a Photograph
After an hour, Ren Baqian received a text message, and he called the phone number of the sender. Soon after, a middle-aged man picked up his call.
After exchanging greetings, Ren Baqian told the man that he had lost his identity card while moving back here from a foreign country and he had become an unregistered resident.
In reality, both parties clearly knew the authenticity of this story. After all, if Ren Baqian really lost his identity card, he could have gotten a replacement from the place where it had been made.
However, the other party did not say anything. After making an appointment with Ren Baqian, he hung up the phone.
While Ren Baqian was making the call, the empress wasn\'t too far away from him. When he saw her looking at him, he smiled and explained, "An identity can save us a lot of trouble. Furthermore, doesn\'t Your Majesty want to see more of this world? If we want to take a plane or go overseas, we will definitely need proof of identity for you. Identity regulation in this world is very strict. Just by using the Internet, one can easily check your identity."
The empress nodded her head. Her level of understanding towards this world was far too low. Fortunately, she had someone that understood this world very well. It was best that she followed his arrangements.
"Your Majesty, let me take a picture of you."
Ren Baqian suddenly smiled and sad.
"What?" The empress raised her head with a puzzled look on her face.
Ren Baqian picked up his phone and took a picture of the room. Then, he passed it to the empress and said, "Like the television, it can keep and display images. I feel that it can preserve the most beautiful moments of Your Majesty."
The empress looked at the image on Ren Baqian\'s phone and compared it with the corner of the room that he took picture of. With curiosity, she asked, "How does it do it?"
"Like human eyes, it is able to capture images. In fact, we are able to see because light from an object can move through space and reach our eyes. Once light reaches our eyes, signals are sent to our brain, and our brain deciphers the information in order to detect the appearance, location, and movement of the object we are looking at. A camera or a camera phone work on the same principle. They are able to capture the light from an object and create an image of that object."
The empress knitted her eyebrows and pondered over Ren Baqian\'s words for a while. Her face turned cold as she said, "I still don\'t understand. Will this thing suck my soul?"
Ren Baqian almost spat out a mouthful of blood when he heard these words. A dumbstruck look immediately appeared on his face. He did not expect the empress to have such a derpy moment.
After spending a huge amount of time and effort to explain the scientific theory behind photo-taking that he found online, Ren Baqian finally convinced the empress that the camera would not suck her soul and would only take a picture of her.
At the same time, he took a picture of himself to ensure nothing wrong could happen.
"After all, as time passes, a person\'s appearance will always change and the people and things around him won\'t remain forever. No matter what, we take pictures to preserve beautiful and precious moments of our lives. Furthermore, we will need a picture of you to create an identity for you."
After a long period of time, the empress finally nodded her head, implying that she believed him.
It was extremely difficult to obtain her trust.
After all, the empress did not understand the science and significance behind photo-taking.
Ren Baqian squatted down before of the empress and took a picture of the motionless empress. From her tightly clenched fists, he could tell that she was slightly nervous.
Following which, Ren Baqian showed the empress the medium shot that he took of her. When she sensed there was nothing wrong with her body, she finally felt at ease.
"Your Majesty, say cheese." Once again, Ren Baqian ran off and aimed his phone at the empress, who was sitting on the sofa. All he got in return was an ice-cold facial expression.
Seeing the sunlight poured on the beautiful, red-dressed girl, whose upper portion of her body gave off a radiant glow, Ren Baqian turned emotional. He took a few pictures of the empress from various angles. Following which, he sat beside the empress and said, "Your Majesty, this can capture your most beautiful moments and save them forever. I want everyone in Dayao and the world to see how beautiful Your Majesty is."
"I have eaten the Jade Embryo before, I will not grow old," the empress said coldly.
Ren Baqian still did not know what a Jade Embryo was. At that time, when Hong Wu gifted the empress a Jade Embryo, no one told him what it was.
Therefore, when he heard the empress\'s words, he was shocked. After asking about it, he finally knew the beneficial effects of eating a Jade Embryo. In that world, the Jade Embryo was a precious treasure that was coveted by rulers and commoners.
It was a pity that Jade Embryos were extremely rare. Otherwise, when Hong Wu gave it to the empress as a birthday present, everyone wouldn\'t have exclaimed in envy and surprise.
Ren Baqian looked at the picture of the empress in his phone. He wanted to capture the empress\'s most beautiful moment, develop the photograph and paste it on walls all over the world. He wanted to let everyone see how beautiful the empress of Dayao was.
He felt that it would be a good idea to paste her picture on the city wall of Dayao. However, he did not know whether or not would people find it offensive.
Right now, Ren Baqian somewhat had the notion of flaunting the empress\'s magnificence.
Enjoying himself, Ren Baqian kept on taking pictures of the empress for nearly half of the day. The empress paid him no heed at all. After he was satisfied, he took a glance at the time. It was about time for him to set off for the appointed place to meet that man. He put down his phone and told the empress, "Your Majesty, we will settle your identity first before taking a stroll in the city."
After changing his clothes, Ren Baqian came down with one more phone in his hand. It was the phone that he previously prepared for the empress. The only thing saved on it was his number.
"Your Majesty, if anything happens outside and we split up, it will be much easier for us to contact each other if you have this." Ren Baqian passed the phone to the empress.
The empress had been curious about this gadget for quite some time. After all, it was so small, but it allowed one to talk to someone in a distant area. If her army was equipped with this gadget, communications would become more convenient.
"How do I use it?" the empress raised her head and asked. She did not understand anything from this world at all. While feeling a sense of novelty, she also felt uncomfortable. It had been a very long time since she had felt so helpless.
Ren Baqian demonstrated to the empress how to use a phone. At the same time, he called his own number, placed the new phone beside the empress\'s ear and answered the call.
"Your Majesty." Sitting right beside the empress, Ren Baqian could smell the fragrance from her body. A gentle smile appeared on his face.
When the empress heard that the voice coming from the phone was identical to Ren Baqian\'s, she took the phone over and fiddled with it. She then repeated the steps that Ren Baqian taught her.
The empress was draped in a sable-hair-made coat this time around, intensifying the cold air she exuded.
It was the middle of March now. Even though it was still cold, one would feel comfortable when the warm sunlight poured onto him or her.
As compared to wintertime, the streets in March were much more lively and beautiful.
After a harsh winter, everyone felt a sense of vigor, making them look more energetic than they were during winter. A relaxed look could be found on many of the passing pedestrians\' faces.
Soon after, two of them arrived at the civil affairs bureau. Ren Baqian turned around and said, "Your Majesty, can you wait here for me? I don\'t think you will like the crowded atmosphere inside."
"Let me follow you, I want to see how things work here," the empress shook her head and said.
After an hour, two persons walked out of the civil affairs bureau. Ren Baqian had a temporary identity card with the name "Qi Zixiao" written on it in his hand.
Just now, as Ren Baqian had expected, the person-in-charge was dumbstruck when he saw the empress. How could a person who had dealt with people from all walks of life not see that Qi Zixiao was an extraordinary individual?
How could such an extraordinary individual be an unregistered resident?
There\'s definitely more to this than meets the eye.
Fortunately, everything was settled without a hitch in the end. The empress was finally an inhabitant of Earth.