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

Yan Li's Lu Bu made a very striking entrance.

After all, he's a big name, and prior promotion had generated extremely high attention.

Among the main characters already introduced in "New Three Kingdoms"—Cao Cao, Liu Bei, Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shao, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei—the most famous is Hu Jun, who plays Guan Yu.

But Hu Jun's Guan Yu is still quite controversial, with few standout plot moments, let alone the fact that Hu Jun's star power is now far below 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 the past two years.

Previously, people still distinguished between Yan Li the actor and Yan Li the businessman; now, hardly anyone mentions it anymore—Yan Li is just Yan Li.

Even if he won the Triple Golden Awards, or even Europe's top three, in the public's mind, he could never be surpassed by a billionaire tycoon and industry giant.

One of the key selling points of "New Three Kingdoms," perhaps even its biggest, is Yan Li portraying Lu Bu.

This is the difference brought by status disparity and a unique aura—even superstars like Jackie Chan or Jet Li cannot match it.

Moreover, the character's concept is extreme, and Yan Li's performance is excellent.

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

For example, the currently well-received Cao Cao and Liu Bei in "New Three Kingdoms" have been gradually shaped through plotlines and screen time into compelling figures.

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 subordinate and background role, even less interesting than the crude and boisterous Zhang Fei.

"New Three Kingdoms" gives many of its characters a sense of "growth."

Cao Cao transforms from a righteous youth into a ruthless warlord; Liu Bei's personality remains unchanged, but he endures countless setbacks; even Zhuge Liang evolves from a confident, charismatic strategist into a calm and prudent, tireless chancellor.

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

Hu Jun himself studied this character arc deeply, 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 at others.

This state might work later, but when Guan Yu was still an unknown archer, it made him seem less impressive.

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

If a character has little screen time but you want the audience to remember him quickly, you must go to extremes.

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

One reason is his ferocity—extremely ferocious—single-handedly challenging the Western Liang generals, leading troops into battle, highlighting 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 and loving, the next he's "filial and loving."

The character is extreme, and Yan Li portrays him excellently, capturing the essence perfectly—he's tall and muscular, naturally commanding, exuding a chilling, overwhelming aura of dominance.

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

This chart was a promotional campaign launched by Weibo alongside the airing of "New Three Kingdoms."

There are character rankings, plot rankings, and PK rankings.

The character rankings are divided into daily and overall lists; currently, the overall first is Cao Cao, second is Liu Bei, third is Jiang Xin's guest role as Empress.

Empress Jiang Xin's appearance is impressive, and she's the female character with the most screen time in the early episodes; Jiang Xin also has high popularity, outvoting 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 ranked first is "Oath of the Peach Garden"; given the weight of these four characters, it's unlikely to be surpassed anytime soon.

The PK ranking directly compares "New Three Kingdoms" with previous famous Three Kingdoms TV dramas and actors, scoring and contrasting them.

This PK ranking is somewhat unfavorable to "New Three Kingdoms," because the CCTV version of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" has too much influence and reputation, easily affecting "New Three Kingdoms'" reception.

But on the other hand, this PK also generates some heat for "New Three Kingdoms."

Moreover, you can't just consider the feelings of the "New Three Kingdoms" production team—Weibo also needs traffic, and half of the traffic for this Weibo campaign comes from the PK ranking.

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

At this stage, the PK ranking is almost entirely led by the CCTV version of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms."

Fortunately, Weibo isn't forcing "New Three Kingdoms" to compete only with the CCTV version—other productions like "Chibi," "The Legend of the Condor Heroes," "Diaochan and Lu Bu," "Cao Cao," and "Guan Gong" are also included.

"New Three Kingdoms" can't match the CCTV version of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," but compared to the rest of the distorted or shoddy Three Kingdoms adaptations, it appears 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 of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" to drag "New Three Kingdoms" down; now Weibo is doing a full comparison.

Even if "New Three Kingdoms" can't surpass the CCTV version of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," it still belongs to the top tier of quality.

Many netizens and viewers, after seeing the rankings and giving scores, all felt that "New Three Kingdoms" was actually well-made.

The "badness strategy" works every time!

Since Lu Bu had just appeared 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 adaptations; 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 it's overly stereotyped, with his martial prowess not particularly highlighted; among CCTV's Three Kingdoms actors, he's not in the top tier.

Cao Cao, Zhuge Liang, Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei were portrayed so excellently that the actors became inseparable from their roles; it's extremely hard for new actors to surpass the old ones.

But Zhang Guangbei didn't put such pressure on Yan Li; Yan Li confidently 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—the PK ranking later revealed his score: 8.9, just 0.1 point behind Zhang Guangbei's 9.0.

This score gap is the smallest among all the major Three Kingdoms characters who have appeared so far.

Yu Hewei's Cao Cao received many positive reviews, but he's still 0.4 points behind Bao Guo'an; Hu Jun's Guan Yu is nearly 2 points behind Lu Shuming.

From the comment sections of the scoring, many viewers expressed surprise and approval of Yan Li's domineering and fierce portrayal of Lu Bu.

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

【Hmm, I have to admit there's an actor factor—Hu Qubing, Xue Rengui, Gong Jiu—all left me with the impression that Yan Li is invincible, incredibly strong.】

【The old Lu Bu felt sinister; the new one is more reckless—I still vote 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—it feels better.】

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

【……】

The controversies surrounding Lü Bu ended completely when the episodes of the allied warlords attacking Dong Zhuo and the Three Heroes fighting Lü Bu aired.

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

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

When Lü Bu alone taunted the eighteen warlords and slew several top generals, combined with the plot and extensive buildup, he successfully embodied the image of the Niu Mowang.

This made Liu, Guan, and Zhang into heroes challenging the Niu Mowang, humiliating the eighteen warlords, and gave the Three Heroes vs. Lü Bu immense credibility.

The Three Heroes were awesome, but Lü Bu was even more awesome!

The grand climax of the allied warlords attacking Dong Zhuo, plus the climax within that climax—the Three Heroes vs. Lü Bu—significantly boosted the ratings, reputation, and influence of *The New Three Kingdoms*.

Of the four television networks broadcasting it, two had average viewership ratings exceeding 2%, ranking first and second in their time slot respectively; the entire drama held over 20% market share, firmly in first place.

It ranked first in Weibo trending topics and discussion numbers, first in Baidu's television and film search volume, and first in print and online media coverage of television and film.

Many viewers who had previously been critical and biased toward *The New Three Kingdoms* also offered some acknowledgment; in terms of pacing, action sequences, and production scale, *The New Three Kingdoms* still performed well.

Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, the Three Heroes, and the various warlords were vividly portrayed; Lü Bu, in particular, became a legend in a single battle, definitively establishing the pinnacle of martial prowess in the Three Kingdoms era.

This high-light performance earned Lü Bu a massive fanbase; public opinion shifted to stare in awe, and Zhang Guangbei's previously ambiguous version temporarily receded, making Yan Li the 【Best Screen Lü Bu】.

Many netizens also claimed Yan Li had definitely rewritten the script, using his position as boss to give Lü Bu all the spotlight.

Others complained that they originally thought Yan Li played Lü Bu for Diaochan, but now realized he was aiming to take on Liu, Guan, and Zhang—and let the Yan Dogs enjoy it thoroughly.

Some netizens joked that there weren't many fierce general roles left for Yan Li.

King Zhou was already a famous fierce warrior of the Shang and Zhou dynasties; Huo Qubing of the Han dynasty had played him, and now Lü Bu, the fiercest general of the late Han, had been played by him; the mighty generals of the Sui and Tang dynasties, Yuwen Chengdu and Xue Rengui, had also been portrayed by him.

Yi An could consider filming *The Legend of Chu and Han* and *The Legend of Yue Fei*.

Rumors even circulated that Director Lu Chuan's upcoming *The King's Feast* and Xingguang International's *The Legend of Hongmen Banquet* were both considering inviting Yan Li to play Xiang Yu.

Yan Li's portrayal of Lü Bu was truly brutal!

Coupled with his previous invincible roles like Xue Rengui and Gong Jiu, he was now wrapped in a buff of fearless might—whenever a similar character appeared, everyone thought of him first.

…

"Lord Lü Wenhou? General Lü? Stop sneaking around grinning—I'm going out."

Yangjiao Lantern Alley, watching Yan Li curled up on the sofa playing his phone, Qin Lan, hand on her belly, spoke up.

These past few days, Yan Li had been fond of watching netizens praise his performance as Lü Bu, grinning like an idiot, which made Dong Xuan, Qin Lan, and the others tease him about it.

"Why suddenly go out?"

Yan Li put away his phone; Qin Lan was nearly eight months pregnant, moving with difficulty, rarely going out, and had come to Yangjiao Lantern Alley for the New Year, where everyone treated her with utmost care.

"Number Four (Li Xiaolu) went to the hospital—I'm going to check on her."

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

She'd been perfectly fine last night!

With the Spring Festival approaching, Yan Li couldn't leave; yesterday had been their breakup battle—this girl had really gone wild. Normally Yan Li drove recklessly, but this last time she took the wheel and nearly shook the gearshift apart.

Yet when Yan Li left, he'd specifically checked—though Li Xiaolu 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 that she'd given up and done something stupid, but others might, yet Li Xiaolu clearly wasn't that kind of person.

Besides, he hadn't abandoned her—she'd made the choice herself for various reasons; even if she regretted it, she didn't need to go this extreme.

And where was Huo Siyan? She'd been there last night too—if Li had an emergency, she wouldn't have failed to notify him.

Yan Li steadied his nerves: "What happened?"

"I'm not sure. Boss and Number Three have both gone. It doesn't look like a small matter—I'm worried, so I want to go see."

"Uh, you're not in a condition to go—better not. I'll check it out."

Yan Li stopped Qin Lan; she was pregnant, couldn't help even if she went, and hospitals were crowded with people, especially with the New Year approaching—she might just cause more trouble.

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

"You're going?"