I traveled through time and became the Queen of Ancient Dian

Everyone turned around and saw an old man wearing animal skins and with a hunched back walking slowly towards them.

The old man's hair and beard were all white, but his eyes were bright, as if they contained endless wisdom.

This is none other than the highly respected Puyang architectural scholar of the Puyang tribe.

"Old sir..." Baona stepped forward and asked respectfully, "What can I do for you?"

The Puyang architecture scholar stroked his beard and said slowly, "I've heard about the difficulties you've encountered. Perhaps... I can help."

Baona's eyes lit up, and she quickly asked, "What do you think, old gentleman?"

The Puyang architecture scholar shook his head. "I'm not so sure about your opinion, but... I've been studying ancient texts for years and discovered an ancient mining method that might be worth a try." He paused, then added, "However, this method is extremely risky, so proceed with caution."

"What method?" everyone asked in unison.

"Use stone to attack stone." The Puyang architectural scholar said word by word.

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. Why did this "attacking stone with stone" sound a bit... fantastical?

Tan Tai Gong even complained directly: "Old man, you didn't read this... from some storybook? What can you get out of hitting stone with stone?"

The Puyang architectural scholar remained undeterred. Instead, he smiled faintly and pointed at the stone monster in the distance. "The stone you encountered is incredibly hard, impossible to mine with ordinary tools. But... it also has weaknesses." He paused, his gaze fixed on the silent Gongye stonemason. "Young man, come here."

Gongye the stonemason walked over with a confused look on his face.

The Puyang architectural scholar whispered a few words in his ear, and Gongye the stonemason's expression gradually changed from confusion to shock, and finally... he even showed a hint of excitement!

"This...is this really possible?" Gongye the stonemason's voice trembled a little.

The Puyang architecture scholar smiled slightly and said, "You'll know after trying it."

In the next few days, Gongye the stonemason led everyone and began to try according to the methods of Puyang architectural scholars.

They first searched for a special type of stone nearby, and then... transported the stone to the vicinity of the stone monster...

"Ready...fire!" Following the order from Gongye the stonemason, everyone threw the stones in their hands hard at the stone monster!

Rumble…

After a loud bang, smoke and dust filled the air...

"Is it done?" asked Tan Tai Gong nervously.

When the smoke and dust cleared, everyone looked closely... only to see that the stone monster... was completely intact!

"Hey, I told you this method is unreliable!" Tan Tai Gong slapped his thigh with an expression of "I knew it".

Just as everyone was feeling dejected, Gongye the stonemason suddenly said, "That's not right... Wait a minute..."

As soon as he finished speaking, cracks began to appear on the stone monster's body!

"Crack...Crack..." The cracks are getting bigger and bigger, and more and more dense...

suddenly!

"Boom!" With a loud noise, the stone monster... unexpectedly...

“Broken…broken?!”

Zhongli the porter widened his eyes, unable to believe what was happening before his eyes.

A barely perceptible smile appeared on Gongye Stonemason's face. He slowly walked over to the shattered stone monster, picked up a piece of stone, and examined it carefully...

"It's done..." he said softly.

Baona was overjoyed when she saw this and quickly asked, "Master Gongye, what...what did you find?"

Gongye the stonemason raised his head, looked at Baona with a burning gaze, and said slowly, "I... I think I know how to mine these stones..." He paused and added, "And... the output... can be doubled..."

Gongye the stonemason's discovery was like a spark that instantly ignited the enthusiasm of the entire construction site.

The workers who were originally frowning were now all smiling and telling each other, making it as lively as if it was New Year's Day.

Tan Taigong was so moved that he burst into tears. He grabbed Gong Yeshimason's hand and said tremblingly, "Good boy, you really are... a treasure boy!"

According to the new method, the efficiency of stone mining has been improved by more than one level. The originally extremely hard stone monsters can now be easily cut into regular pieces of stone like tofu.

"Wuhu! Take off!" Zhongli, the porter, carried a huge stone and walked briskly, as if the heavy burden on his shoulders was as light as a feather.

When the news spread, the entire ancient Dian Kingdom was in an uproar.

The people organized themselves spontaneously, those who had money contributed money, and those who had strength contributed their strength.

An old lady tremblingly handed over the few wild fruits she had, saying, "Children, you have worked hard! This little bit is not enough to show your respect..." A young mother held her child, her eyes gleaming with hope: "I hope the new house can be built soon so that my child can have a place to shelter from the wind and rain..."

Looking at the scene in front of him, designer Zong Zheng was so excited that tears filled his eyes. He turned to Bao Na and said, "Baona, I... I have never seen such a scene..." He choked and could not utter a complete sentence.

Baona looked at the bustling scene and felt a lot of emotion in her heart.

She seemed to see a brand new ancient Dian Kingdom rising...

Suddenly, there was a sound of hurried horse hooves in the distance... Amidst the dust, a figure galloped towards them... He dismounted and said to Baona anxiously, "Miss Baona, something bad has happened..."

When the dust settled, the person who came was actually an architectural scholar from Puyang. He looked anxious and his forehead was covered with sweat.

"Miss Baona, this is bad! The new stone...it...it's deforming!"

Baona was shocked: "Deformed? What's going on?"

The Puyang architectural scholar took a breath and spoke rapidly, "I built a small section of the wall using new stone according to Designer Zong Zheng's blueprints. But... but after a while, the stone actually started... expanding! The stones that once fit together perfectly are now squeezed together, like... like fermented bread!"

"Wuhu! It's over!" When the porter Zhongli heard this, he almost dropped the stone in his hand.

"What?! Bread?!" Designer Zong Zheng's face turned pale, even whiter than new stone.

"This...how is this possible?!" He quickly ran to the experimental section of the wall and observed it carefully. Just as the Puyang architectural scholar said, the stone expanded and deformed, and the originally flat wall surface became uneven, just like...a huge piece of bread.

"My design... my hard work..." Designer Zong Zheng was in tears, as if the sky had fallen.

"Don't panic!" Baona quickly comforted her, "It's better to discover the problem at first than at the last minute. There's still time to remedy it."

At this moment, there was a commotion among the crowd. "Her Majesty has arrived!"

The Queen of Ancient Dian was seen walking slowly towards us, surrounded by a group of maids.

She was dressed in gorgeous clothes and wore a golden crown on her head, looking majestic yet approachable.

"I heard that the construction of the new city wall is progressing rapidly, so I came to express my condolences."

Everyone knelt down and shouted "Long live the emperor".

The Queen's eyes swept across everyone, finally landing on Baona, and she nodded slightly.

She walked to the deformed section of the wall, looked at it carefully, and frowned slightly.

"This..." Tan Taigong was so frightened that cold sweats broke out. "Your Majesty, this... this is the experimental stage. I... I will make improvements immediately!"

The Queen raised her hand to stop him, her tone calm, "Don't panic. Any new thing will encounter problems. The key is how to solve them." She looked around at everyone, her eyes firm, "I believe that as long as we work together, there will be no difficulties that cannot be overcome!"

The Queen's words were like a magic needle that stabilized the sea, rekindling everyone's hope.

The people were even more excited, and they shouted, "The Queen is wise! Ancient Dian will win!"

Baona looked at the scene in front of her and was deeply moved.

She knew that this battle of architectural revival was not just about building a new city wall, but also about rebuilding the confidence and hope of the people of ancient Dian.

At this moment, Wumeng Tianlong, who had been silent all this time, walked up to Baona and whispered, "Baona, I think... I know where the problem lies..." He pointed to a tiny mark on the deformed wall and said solemnly, "Look..."

Wumeng Tianlong pointed at a tiny mark on the deformed wall and said solemnly, "Look... does the texture of this stone resemble the fibers of some plant?"

Baona took a closer look and found that, as expected, some lines similar to plant fibers were faintly visible on the surface of the stone. They were not obvious before because of the dark color of the stone, but now after expansion and deformation, these lines were clearly visible.

"Could it be that... this new stone... is some kind of plant fossil?" Baona's mind moved, and a bold guess emerged.

"Plant fossils?!" Designer Zong Zheng was confused. "This...how is this possible? Stone...how can it be made of plants?" He felt that his worldview had been severely impacted.

"It's very likely." The usually taciturn Gongye stonemason suddenly spoke up. "When I was collecting this kind of stone before, I noticed that it's lighter than ordinary stone, and... has a faint... herbal scent."

"Herbal smell?" Everyone came closer to smell it, and sure enough, a faint, herbal fragrance filled their noses.

"Wuhu! It really is!" Zhongli the porter exclaimed, "This stone...could it be alive?"

"Living stone?!" Tan Tai Gong almost jumped up, "This...this is totally unheard of!"

As everyone was discussing this, a Puyang architectural scholar suddenly had an idea and slapped his thigh. "I remember! Ancient texts record a special kind of soil called 'Xirang' that can grow on its own and expand when exposed to water! Could this new stone... be something similar to 'Xirang'?!"

"Xirang?!" Everyone was shocked again. This was too fantastical!

A glint flashed in the eyes of the Ancient Dian Queen, and she said in a deep voice: "Xirang... the legendary magical soil that can grow on its own and reclaim land from the sea... If this new stone is really a substance similar to 'Xirang', then..."

"Then we can build even more magnificent buildings!" Designer Zong Zheng was trembling with excitement, as if he saw magnificent palaces rising from the ground in the future.

"But...how to control its expansion and deformation?" Baona raised the key question.

"This..." Everyone fell into deep thought again.

At this time, Wumeng Tianlong spoke again: "I think... we can try to burn it with fire."

"Fire?" Everyone looked at each other.

"Yes!" Wumeng Tianlong explained, "Since it is similar to a plant, burning it with fire may destroy its internal structure and stabilize it."

"This...will this work?" Tan Tai Gong expressed his doubt.

"It's worth a try." The Queen of Ancient Dian made the final decision, "Immediately organize personnel and conduct a fire test!"

Thus, a vigorous stone burning operation began.

The entire nation was mobilized, men, women, young and old, to gather firewood, build a bonfire, and throw new stones into the fire...

The blazing fire illuminated half the sky red, and also illuminated the ancient Dian people's hope for a better future...

Baona looked at the bustling scene, her heart filled with emotion. Suddenly, Wumeng Tianlong leaned close to her ear and whispered, "Baona... I have another idea..." He paused, his eyes flashing with mystery, "What if... we combine this 'Xirang' with... another material..."