>>535643284
>>535643489
>since they had personal history together
It's definitely not just that, Ryoshu herself implied that a thumb soldato is disrespecting her for not knowing what she actually is. Lei Heng didn't give a shit because he actually saw her as an equal, I don't think there were any personal bias involved, that kind of goes against the entire Thumb shtick. 2 other times it happened he pretty much did what every other Thumb does.
There's a good chance Ryoshu was a retainer of the Lord so that would give her some high ranking on the Thumb respect hierarchy.