A pretty young woman, Meiling was born in Peking in 1870, under auspicious celestial signs. (according to the Chinese calendar) Pledged in marriage to a ‘man of known standing and secret honor’, she was sent to Mexico in 1887 to join her betrothed. Hardly had she set foot in Mexico before she escaped her consorts and took off. For nearly two years she evaded her betrothed’s searchers, trying to get to the US border but being headed off at every turn.

Finally crossing the Rio Grande, she was captured by Pinkerton detectives, who delivered her to agents of her betrothed in Chihuahua. En route to the wedding, she was abducted by a group of Mexican gun thugs, who later snatched up a group of Chinese girls from Jimenez.

Rescued by Holt’s Regulators, she decided to take up with the gringos rather than continue on the run by herself.

Meiling is well-educated, speaking three Chinese dialects, decent English and French, and broken Spanish. Besides the skills of a classical Chinese education, she is a first-rate pickpocket, and decent knife-fighter, and extremely racist. Her feet are not bound, and she can ride a horse either astraddle or sidesaddle. She cannot drive a team.

She normally carries a short knife, and has a pair of deer-horn knives in her personal gear.

She is bright, cheerful, polite, and friendly to (light-skinned) strangers.