"But the logistics," Luo Binghe says, fully morose. "They all live in my palace. Am I to turn them out on the streets? Or simply—house women I no longer desire as a kind of charity? And the power dynamics—you could not imagine. The harem is its own political entity, as complex as any other branch of the court. The women who have risen to the top of that structure would not be pleased to have their power stripped, just because the emperor has decided men are more appealing." That may be the first time he has said that out loud so baldly. Oh well.