When Deun Chi Hing was still the King of Dali, his four ministers attended to him very closely, as was their duty.
After Deun Chi Hing became the monk 1 Deng, the four ministers became his disciples and continued to live with and attend to their master. This is how we first meet them during LOCH.
By the time of ROCH, however, Chu Tze Lau, Mo 3 Tung, and the Fisherman largely did their own things independently of 1 Deng. We don't see any of the former ministers/disciples in the company of 1 Deng until near the end of ROCH. For most of ROCH, those former ministers/disciples were helping and fighting alongside Gwok Jing, Wong Yung, and Yeung Gor at Seung Yeung City and elsewhere...without 1 Deng.
Was it because 1 Deng had acquired Chi Yan (the former Kau Cheen Yan) as his disciple near the end of LOCH and didn't need those other guys so much anymore?