To the north of the stood the , a similarly constructed hall of somewhat smaller size that was intended to function as the emperor's living quarters. However, beginning already in the ninth century, the emperors often chose to reside in other buildings of the . A third still smaller hall, the was located next to the north along the main axis of the . After the was rebuilt following a fire in 960, the regular residence of the emperors moved to the smaller , an east-facing building located immediately to the north-west from . Gradually the began to be used increasingly for meetings as well, with emperors spending much of their time in this part of the palace. The busiest part of the building was the , where high-ranking nobles came to meet in the presence of the emperor.