Chapter 473: "Allure" Ratings Soar!
Before their exile, the sisters met one last time at the Li Family’s doorstep for a tearful farewell, with Lu Huashan’s portrayal of Li Qingguo still unrepentant, wrongly blaming her family for her own misfortunes.
Xia Weibao’s Li Qingcheng, on the brink of departure, had tears in her eyes and her lips quivered as she mustered the strength to speak, "Sister, live well, now you’re the only family I have left."
The moment these words were spoken, tears fell from every viewer’s eyes.
And after she was taken away, Li Qingguo, played by Lu Huashan, collapsed to her knees, weeping and repenting in the pouring rain, shattering the audience’s hearts.
This scene was genuinely emotional, and the crying performances of both actresses were truly textbook-level!
Some netizens joked that whenever the Li sisters cried, Allure’s viewership numbers went through the roof!
And indeed, they did—with the climax episode raking in a viewership of five hundred million!
What a terrifying figure!
This weekend, almost every topic revolved around the sisters’ emotional performances.
At the same time, everyone was looking forward to Monday’s arrival.
Because everyone knew that in Monday’s episode, both Li sisters would escape during their exile.
Then one disguised herself as a man, while the other transformed after losing weight, becoming someone else entirely.
Both altered their appearances to return for revenge, just thinking about it was exhilarating.
The highlights of this episode were firstly, Xia Weibao’s male disguise.
Secondly, the actor playing Li Qingguo was still a secret.
The trailer only showed a profile shot, and no one even knew what she looked like.
Nor did anyone know which actor was playing the role of Noble Consort Mei.
The speculation over who would play the antagonist, Li Qingguo, after her transformation caused a wave of discussion online.
Many Allure fans expressed their concerns.
Even though Hua Shan was plump and plain-looking, her acting skills were exceptional, perfectly portraying the early bitterness and cruelty of Li Qingguo.
If the actor playing her darker self didn’t have strong acting skills, wouldn’t that ruin the character of Li Qingguo?
This fierce debate even overshadowed Deep Palace.
Deep Palace was indeed a large production.
But it was overhyped—before filming even started there was buzz, and the promotion continued through the beginning of filming and the series premiere, with several waves of promotion just for the launch.
The audience was sick of the overexposure.
With eighty episodes, the plot was bound to be watered down, too drawn out.
And only five episodes were released each week, a snail’s pace that even the most dedicated fans struggled to follow.
Then there were the acting performances: although it featured a star-studded cast, many were too overzealous in their performances.
All things considered, Deep Palace saw its viewership drop day by day.
In contrast, people preferred watching Allure with its high-quality production, fast pace, and explosive acting performances.
Deep Palace started off with a record-breaking premiere but then declined, slipping downhill.
Allure had a dismal launch but eventually surged impressively, scaling new heights.
This turnaround was unexpected.
Deep Palace was teetering on the brink of losing its status!
But it was still supported by a solid cast, and Chu Ying’s star power was undeniable, so it managed to come to a draw with Allure.
Then, at 7 pm on Monday, Allure welcomed the grand return of the two female leads, and its viewership instantly soared!
Leaving Deep Palace several blocks behind!
The eleventh episode focused mainly on the escape process of the two main female characters.
The pacing was swift as their makeovers after the escape were covered in just a few brief shots, earning further praise from the audience.
This is what a true quality drama looks like; cutting unnecessary plot points where needed.
Unlike certain dramas that stretch what could be done in one shot over an entire episode,
it’s like drawing water out of thin air.
The final shot of episode eleven featured Xia Weibao, transformed and going by the name Li Qing, appearing in her new male persona.