For the next few days, the Grand Emperor held court alongside Chu Qingyun.
Ji Xiaosong scheduled the Spring Festival banquet for the twenty-third day of the last month of the year, which, according to local custom, was also the Little New Year.
'Working folk don't want to be stuck at work just days before the New Year, unable to go home and celebrate.' Ji Xiaosong understood that resentment all too well.
As the New Year approached, she prepared silver coins and gifts for all the court officials and their families.
From the members of the Cabinet to the officials in remote, faraway mountain regions, anyone who served the court and its people would receive a New Year's gift from her.
To prevent any corruption, Ji Xiaosong specifically had her own people handle the deliveries.
By the day of the banquet, even those who could not attend had already received their New Year's gifts.
The officials and their families who did attend received their gifts on the day of the event.
