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My guess about the concubines being older is that perhaps some are half sisters or even the previous emperor’s concubines that Shuraka has protected from being thrown out/killed after he became emperor. Or maybe he really is into older lovers, who knows? If the advisors throw candidates at him, I’m sure he’d feel like it’d be dangerous to reject them all. Better to keep them safe in their own palace and not touch them rather than send them home where they might be punished for being rejected by him. Lots of personal speculation here