Yeah, its a patriarchal society so a woman as a commander is ridiculous. Oh wait. It's also her fault for not keeping things in order. Its her fault that people look down on her despite her credentials of being a tactician because she is a woman. 🙄
I am so sorry for Pauliana. He... i mean she was so happy and now she must leave away everything she cherished. I really wonder what the hell is passing the emperor's head?
On one hand you can say this is a safer option for Pauliana, the classic "superior/representative gets fired for incompetent subordinates" trope, because she gets distanced from Palace politics atleast for a while.
as soon as the emperor said he'd take her in as a concubine i stopped shipping them. i'm glad i did because if i held a single ounce of hope for this guy then this would have hurt more.