Chapter 384: The Best Cinematic Lu Bu, Why Did He Go to the Hospital?

Yan Li’s portrayal of Lu Bu still stole the spotlight upon debut.

After all, he’s a major star, and prior hype had generated extremely high attention.

Among the main characters already introduced in *Three Kingdoms: The New Era*—Cao, Liu, Dong, Yuan, Guan, Zhang—the most famous is Hu Jun, who plays Guan Yu.

But Hu Jun’s Guan Yu remains controversial so far, with few standout plot moments, let alone the fact that Hu Jun’s star power now falls far short of Yan Li’s.

After the rise of Weibo and its merger with Yi’an, Yan Li’s net worth reached tens of billions, and his status and influence saw an absolute leap compared to just two years prior.

Previously, people still distinguished between Yan Li the actor and Yan Li the businessman; now, few mention it anymore—Yan Li is simply Yan Li.

Even if he won the Triple Gold Best Actor award—or even Europe’s three major film prizes—he could never surpass a billionaire and industry titan in the public’s mind.

One of the key selling points of *Three Kingdoms: The New Era*’s casting, perhaps even its biggest, is Yan Li playing Lu Bu.

This is the difference brought by status disparity and a unique aura—even superstars like Cheng Long and Li Lianjie can’t match it.

Moreover, the character’s design is extreme, and Yan Li’s performance is excellent.

To make a character multidimensional and striking, it usually requires abundant plot details to build it up.

For example, the currently well-received Cao and Liu in *Three Kingdoms: The New Era* have been gradually shaped through plotlines and screen time.

Hu Jun’s Guan Yu isn’t striking yet because it’s not yet time for Second Brother to shine—he’s still relegated to a sidekick and background role, even less compelling than the brutish Zhang Fei.

*Three Kingdoms: The New Era* gives many characters a sense of “growth.”

Cao Cao evolves from a righteous youth into a ruthless warlord; Liu Bei’s personality stays unchanged, but he endures countless setbacks; even Zhuge Liang transforms from a spirited, youthful strategist into a weary, devoted chancellor.

Guan Yu is no exception—he has pride, but at first, due to his status and seniority, it’s internal, restrained, not obvious; only after his fame spreads across China does he slowly become the proud Guan Yu.

Hu Jun himself studied this character arc closely, and it’s precisely because of this that he defeated Yu Rongguang.

The latter understood Guan Yu superficially—just playing him as overly arrogant, constantly looking down his nose.

That state might work later, but when Guan Yu was still an unknown archer, it made him look unimpressive.

Because this restrained performance made him seem dull before his major scenes, and dullness makes people forget.

If a character has little screen time but needs to be quickly memorable, go extreme.

Yan Li’s Lu Bu appears for barely more than one episode, yet he was quickly remembered and left a deep impression.

One reason is his ferocity—utterly ferocious—single-handedly challenging the Western Liang generals, leading troops into battle, showcasing the strength of the number-one warrior of the Three Kingdoms.

The other is his treachery—he betrays on a dime; one moment he’s filial to his father, the next he’s “filial to his father.”

The character is extreme, and Yan Li portrays him brilliantly—tall, muscular, naturally commanding, exuding a chilling aura saturated with overwhelming presence, radiating intense pressure.

That night, Yan Li immediately topped trending topics, and on Weibo’s Three Kingdoms popularity ranking, he ranked first for the day and fourth overall.

This ranking was a promotional campaign launched by Weibo alongside the broadcast of *Three Kingdoms: The New Era*.

There’s a character ranking, a plot ranking, and a PK ranking.

The character ranking has both daily and overall lists; currently, the overall top is Cao Cao, second is Liu Bei, third is Jiang Xin’s guest role as Empress He.

Empress He’s costume is excellent, and she’s the most prominent female character in the early episodes; Jiang Xin’s popularity is high, and she outvoted Yuan Shao, Dong Zhuo, and others.

The plot ranking has only an overall list, primarily measuring which plotlines are most popular or best received by viewers.

Currently, the top-ranked is “Oath of the Peach Garden”; given the weight of those four characters, it’s unlikely to be surpassed anytime soon.

The PK ranking directly compares *Three Kingdoms: The New Era* with previous famous Three Kingdoms TV dramas and actors, scoring them head-to-head.

This PK ranking is somewhat unfavorable to *Three Kingdoms: The New Era*, because the CCTV version of *Romance of the Three Kingdoms* has such high influence and reputation that it risks negatively impacting *Three Kingdoms: The New Era*’s reception.

But on the other hand, this PK also generates some buzz for *Three Kingdoms: The New Era*.

Besides, we can’t just consider the feelings of the *Three Kingdoms: The New Era* production team—Weibo also needs traffic, and half of this campaign’s traffic comes from the PK ranking.

For classic adaptations, comparing and contrasting versions has always been a favorite spectacle for the public.

Currently, the PK ranking is almost entirely led by the CCTV version of *Romance of the Three Kingdoms*.

Fortunately, Weibo isn’t forcing *Three Kingdoms: The New Era* to compete only against CCTV’s version—other productions like *Red Cliff*, *The Legend of the Condor Heroes*, *Diaochan and Lu Bu*, *Cao Cao*, *Guan Gong*, and others are also included.

*Three Kingdoms: The New Era* can’t match the CCTV version, but compared to the rest of the distorted or shoddy Three Kingdoms adaptations, it looks remarkably high-quality.

This is precisely why Yan Li agreed to the PK ranking.

If Weibo didn’t create this ranking, other media would use the CCTV version to drag *Three Kingdoms: The New Era* down; now Weibo is doing a full comparison.

Even if *Three Kingdoms: The New Era* doesn’t surpass the CCTV version, it still belongs to the top tier.

Many netizens and viewers, after checking the rankings and scoring, concluded that *Three Kingdoms: The New Era* was actually well-made.

The “badness strategy” works every time!

Since Lu Bu had just debuted and the PK ranking hadn’t been updated, Yan Li felt his score wouldn’t be too low.

There are only a few Lu Bu portrayals on screen; his biggest rival is Zhang Guangbei from the CCTV version; the rest—Huang Sanshi in *Lu Bu and Diaochan* and Lü Liangwei in *Diaochan*—lack influence and performance worth worrying about.

Zhang Guangbei’s Lu Bu is actually well-acted, but overly stereotyped, with his martial prowess not particularly highlighted; among CCTV’s Three Kingdoms cast, he’s not in the top tier.

Cao Cao, Zhuge Liang, Liu, Guan, and Zhang are portrayed so brilliantly, almost soul-deep; new actors find it nearly impossible to outperform the old ones.

But Zhang Guangbei doesn’t pressure Yan Li like that; Yan Li believes he can match him and aims to secure second place among all Lu Bu portrayals, with a shot at first.

And the facts proved Yan Li right—when the PK ranking scores for Lu Bu were released, he scored 8.9, just 0.1 point behind Zhang Guangbei’s 9.0.

This gap is the smallest among all major Three Kingdoms characters already introduced.

Yu Hewei’s Cao Cao received many praises but still trails Bao Guo’an by 0.4 points; Hu Jun’s Guan Yu is nearly 2 points behind Lu Shuming.

From the comment sections of the ratings, many viewers expressed pleasant surprise and approval of Yan Li’s commanding presence and ferocious portrayal of Lu Bu.

【Zhang Guangbei looks a bit thin; he doesn’t feel like Yan Li—I immediately thought Yan Li was the strongest upon his debut.】

【I have to admit there’s an actor factor—Huo Qubing, Xue Rengui, Gong Jiu—Yan Li has always left me with the image of an invincible warrior.】

【The old Lu Bu felt sinister; the new one is just reckless—I’m voting for Yan Li, I like tough guys.】

【I don’t like Lu Bu, but the old version was too sleazy; the new one is bluntly evil, more beast than man—feels better.】

【Yan Li’s performance is fine, but I still think Zhang Guangbei has more depth.】

【...】

These debates about Lu Bu ended completely when the storyline of the allied warlords attacking Dong Zhuo and the “Three Heroes Battle Lu Bu” aired.

There’s no way around it—this scene is the early climax and the peak of the action sequences.

Liu, Guan, and Zhang pulled off a major show-off; Lu Bu pulled off an even bigger one.

When Lu Bu alone taunted the eighteen warlords, slaying several generals in succession, and with the plot and buildup, he successfully established himself as a demon king.

This made Liu, Guan, and Zhang appear as heroes challenging the demon king, humiliating the eighteen warlords, and gave “Three Heroes Battle Lu Bu” immense weight.

The Three Heroes are awesome, but Lu Bu is even more awesome!

The grand climax of the allied warlords attacking Dong Zhuo, combined with the even greater climax of “Three Heroes Battle Lu Bu,” significantly boosted *Three Kingdoms: The New Era*’s ratings, reputation, and influence.

Two of the four broadcasting networks achieved average viewership ratings above 2%, ranking first and second in their time slot; the entire series holds over 20% market share, firmly in first place.

Weibo trending topics and discussion numbers lead the field; Baidu’s film and TV search volume is number one; print and online media coverage of film and TV leads the field.

Many viewers who previously held critical or biased views toward *Three Kingdoms: The New Era* now offered some acknowledgment—regarding plot pacing, action sequences, and production scale, *Three Kingdoms: The New Era* performed admirably.

Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, the Three Heroes, and the various warlords are vividly portrayed; Lu Bu, after this single battle, became a god, definitively establishing the pinnacle of martial prowess in the Three Kingdoms.

This brilliant performance attracted a massive fanbase; public opinion, previously ambivalent toward Zhang Guangbei’s version, has now shifted decisively; Yan Li has become the 【Best Cinematic Lu Bu】.

Many netizens claimed Yan Li must have rewritten the script, using his position as boss to give Lu Bu all the spotlight.

Others complained that they originally thought Yan Li took the Lu Bu role for Diaochan, but now realized he was aiming to outshine Liu, Guan, and Zhang—and the Yan Li fans got their wish.

Some joked that there aren’t many fierce general roles left for Yan Li.

King Zhou was a famous warrior of the Shang-Zhou era; Huo Qubing was played; the number-one warrior of the late Han, Lu Bu, was played; the mighty generals of Sui-Tang, Yuwen Chengdu and Xue Rengui, were played.

Yi’an should consider producing *The Legend of Chu and Han* and *The Legend of Yue Fei*.

Rumors even suggest that director Lu Chuan’s upcoming *The King’s Feast* and Starlight International’s *The Hongmen Banquet Legend* are considering inviting Yan Li to play Xiang Yu.

Yan Li’s Lu Bu was simply too brutal!

Combined with his previous invincible roles like Xue Rengui and Gong Jiu, he’s now permanently buffed with an aura of unmatched ferocity—any similar character roles now immediately bring him to mind.

…

“Marquis of Wen? General Lu? Stop smirking to yourself—I’m going out.”

In Yangjiao Deng Hutong, Qin Lan, holding her belly, spoke to Yan Li, who was lounging on the sofa scrolling through his phone.

These days, Yan Li loved watching netizens praise his Lu Bu performance, grinning like an idiot—so much so that Dong Xuan and Qin Lan teased him about it.

“Why suddenly going out?”

Yan Li put away his phone; Qin Lan was nearly eight months pregnant, moving with difficulty, rarely going out; since coming to Yangjiao Deng Hutong for the New Year, everyone had treated her with extreme care.

“Lao Si (Li Xiao) went to the hospital—I’m going to check on her.”

Qin Lan explained; Yan Li was confused—why would Li Xiao go to the hospital?

She was perfectly fine last night!

With the Spring Festival approaching, Yan Li couldn’t go anywhere; yesterday was their breakup battle—this girl really went wild. Normally, Yan Li drove recklessly, but this time she took the wheel and nearly shook the gearshift apart.

But when Yan Li left, he specifically checked—though Li Xiao looked exhausted, her condition was decent, and she even had the energy to share some heartfelt words with him; how could she be in the hospital the next day?

Yan Li’s first thought was she might have attempted suicide, but others might, yet Li Xiao clearly wasn’t that kind of person.

Besides, he didn’t abandon her—she chose to leave for various reasons; even if she regretted it, she wouldn’t go this extreme.

And where was Hu Siyan? She was there last night too—if Li Xiao had an incident, she wouldn’t have failed to notify him.

Yan Li steadied his nerves: “What happened?”

“I’m not sure. Boss and Lao San already went—they looked like it’s no small matter. I’m worried, so I want to go see.”

“Uh, you’re not in good shape—don’t go. I’ll go check.”

Yan Li stopped Qin Lan; she was pregnant, couldn’t help even if she went, and hospitals were crowded, especially with the New Year approaching—he didn’t want to cause more trouble.

Besides, Yan Li felt a bit guilty—if something went wrong and it was connected to him, and it upset Qin Lan, it would be a disaster.

“You’re going?”