The moment the gong sounded, from various areas across the main palace, people began to head out into the corridors and make their stately way towards the entrance hall.
This entrance hall was a semi-detached space on the opposite end of the main palace, right across the grand inner courtyard that was now occupied by hundreds of guests. To reach it, the people from both residential wings must traverse the long corridors that wrapped the length of the courtyard on either side.
Of course, it would have been far simpler if the Emperor and the other players of today’s event simply emerged from the main palace’s front doors, which the spectators were already facing.
But royalty needed to rely on pageantry, among other things, to highlight their greater importance compared to everyone else
