There are two completely different understandings of this passage, which is quite interesting to say. One is Li Zehou's understanding. He thinks this is because Nanzi is an adulteress and an immoral person, but Confucius went to see her, which aroused the suspicion of disciple Lutz and thought that he and she had something to hide, so Confucius had to confess himself:
If I do something wrong, God will punish me! God will punish me!
This shows that Confucius is not the kind of person who is hypocritical and does not put on airs.
One is nan huaijin's understanding. In his view, Confucius meant that you all misread Nanzi. The man I deny is a hopeless man, and he must be guilty of a terrible crime. Not only people hate him, but also the sky hates him. I won't associate with that kind of person, but Nanzi is not that kind of person.
Both of these understandings are interesting. However, nan huaijin's understanding is obviously flawed. Because Confucius didn't know Nanzi before he went to see her, how did he know that she was not the hopeless person? It can only be said that Confucius met Nanzi and found that she was not what people thought.
However, there is another problem, that is, Nanzi wants to see Confucius. Why didn't Confucius want to see her in the first place? Is there a difference between men and women? No, it is natural for men and women to meet during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. There are a lot of records in The Book of Songs that show that the relationship between men and women at that time was relatively free. In addition, Nanzi said that the King of the Quartet would like to be brothers with her husband Wei Linggong and should visit her. Is it because Nanzi has a bad reputation? No, if Confucius had heard of Nanzi's notoriety before, it would mean that Nanzi must have done something bad, and it would definitely be recorded in the history books, which would not be as simple as it is now. So, what is the secret? Not everyone can answer fear. It can only be an eternal mystery.