During the reign of the third Wu emperor Sun Xiu (r. 258–264), Xue Xu held the position of General of the Household for All Purposes (五官中郎將) in the Wu government. Sun Xiu once sent him as an ambassador to Wu's ally state, Shu Han. After observing the conditions in Shu, he predicted that Shu would fall soon. His prediction came true in 263 when Shu was conquered by Wei, the rival state of both Wu and Shu.
In 267, during the reign of the fourth and last Wu emperor Sun Hao, Xue Xu was appointed as Court Architect (將作大匠) and tasked with overseeing the construction of the mausoleum and memorial temple of Sun He, the emperor's father.
In c.December 269,[1] when a rebellion broke out in Jiao Province, Sun Hao ordered Xue Xu, who then held the appointment of General Who Awes the South (威南將軍), to lead troops from Jing Province to meet up with another army led by Li Xu (李勖) and Xu Cun (徐存) at Hepu Commandery (合浦郡; northeast of present-day Hepu County, Guangxi) and attack the rebels together. Yu Si, an army supervisor, and Tao Huang, the Administrator of Cangwu Commandery (蒼梧郡), served as Xue Xu's subordinates. However, the army led by Li Xu and Xu Cun never reached their destination because their path was obstructed, so only the army led by Xue Xu was available to fight the rebels. Wu Yan, then a low-ranking official, was taken aback by the sight of Xue Xu's army marching towards Jiaozhi Commandery.[2] Xue Xu heeded a suggestion from Tao Huang to send troops to attack Jiaozhi Commandery via a water route, and bribe Liang Qi (梁奇) and other local elites in Jiaozhi to win them over.[3] In 271, Xue Xu's army conquered Jiaozhi Commandery and retook Jiuzhen (九真) and Rinan (日南) commanderies as well.
After the campaign in Jiao Province, Sun Hao appointed Yu Si as the Inspector (刺史) of Jiao Province, but Yu Si died of illness not long later, so Tao Huang succeeded him. Xue Xu also died on the journey back to the Wu imperial capital, Jianye.[4]
^According to Sun Hao's biography in Sanguozhi, Xue Xu, Yu Si and Tao Huang set off from Jing province for the Jiaozhi campaign in the 11th month of the 1st year of the Jianheng era. This corresponds to 11 Dec 269 to 8 Jan 270 in the Julian calendar. [(建衡元年)十一月...。遣监军虞汜、威南将军薛珝、苍梧太守陶璜由荆州,监军李勖、督军徐存从建安海道,皆就合浦击交阯.] Sanguozhi, vol.48